First Daughter
by Eria
Summary: Post-Smallville. Hazards of being a President aside, Lex Luthor discovers that he has a daughter, who has been raised by the Kents. Catch is, he doesn't know who the mother is. Implied past-MPREG. Lex/Clark.
1. Prologue

_**Author's notes:** Hello, I'm branching out into Smallville fic. Nice to meet you.  
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**_Warning:_**_None at this time other than what was listed in the Story summary._

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Martha Kent was just serving dinner when the doorbell rang. Since she was already on her feet, she gestured for her husband to stay seated. "It's probably one of the neighbors."

As she neared the door, she heard the unmistakable sound of a squalling baby. Feeling a sense of urgency, she reached for the door knob.

She swung the door inward to reveal her one and only child, holding a red-faced baby screaming at the top of its lungs.

Clark met his mom's eyes with a pleading look. "Mom… I-I can't get her to stop," he yelled over the baby's colicky cries. With his hand supporting the baby's head, he lightly bounced the baby up and down in his arms.

Martha felt Jonathan behind her as she reached out to hold the baby, cooing and clucking at it.

Looking guilty, Clark handed her over gingerly and then stepped inside after his mother.

Swaying and humming, Martha danced around her husband and son rocking the baby as it cried. Once she had settled into the rocking chair, she had calmed the child.

Resting his head on his arm against the door frame leading to the living room, Clark sighed heavily.

"Did you find her or…?" Jonathan asked gruffly, after closing the door. They both watched Martha rock in the large chair and lightly rub fingers against the baby's back.

Clark straightened from the wall. "She's…," Clark started, threading his fingers together and then undoing them. "Lara's been bawling like that for..." he paused. "For ages," Clark finally finished. He rubbed his face and his eyes tiredly.

"Get some sleep, son. We'll talk about this once you wake up."

Clark looked humbly towards his mom with his eyes flicking towards Lara.

"Shoo. I can take care of her," Martha whispered softly, humming between words.

With the weight of the world off his shoulders, Clark trudged up the stairs and collapsed into his old bed, falling instantly asleep.

It was a few minutes later that his parents decided to pack up the food and go for a short drive when Clark's snoring began to rattle every wall fixture in the house.

**TBC.**


	2. Another Self-Sacrificing Kent

_**Author's notes:** I'll have some more posted later on.  
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**_Warning:_**_ Violence.  
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**9 years later…**

"Sam, are we ready?"

Lex's Secret Service member du jour nodded. It had taken ten long minutes for another quick sweep, but the duties to protect the safety of the President of the United States were nothing to shirk.

Finally, the door to the 'Beast' opened, and an impeccably dressed Lex waved and smiled to the eagerly awaiting crowd. He knew most of them had arrived four hours in advance to get the best seats in the house. He stepped up to the podium and the cheers died.

"Thank you for coming. I apologize that it took so long to hang the Seal up." He gestured to the podium's front where the Presidential Seal sat and grinned through the murmured chuckles and muted laughs. "As Mr. Kelley extrapolated earlier, education is a very important investment in the people of our great nation. As such, I am here today to award six students from the city of Metropolis with the Presidential Award of Excellence. Heidi Klein, Joshua Bates, Lawrence Owens, Moneesha Flynn, Gerard Ali, and Lara Kent please step onto the stage to collect your much deserved award."

Six students, two from high school, two from middle school, and two from primary school, shuffled in a single-file line—likely in a rehearsed maneuver—and turned simultaneously to face the crowd amid the loud cheers. Lex saw the flailing from Martha Kent as she quickly grabbed her husband and son to hug them. Her red hair flashed in the sunlight as Lex smiled patiently for the blinking cameras. It wasn't often that a President directly handed out this award.

Some of the awardees gave him stink-eye, particularly the junior high students. Lex had asked for significant changes and reform for public school education, long overdue. With a ready and willing Congress and the advice of people who understood education, the bills had passed into law.

Regardless of how these kids felt, he called them each to the podium, one at a time, shook their hand and handed them the slip of paper with his honest-to-god signature.

Applause and cheers bowled over them and Lex continued to smile as he waited. Then he looked to the students. "Now, I'm supposed to wax poetic about how your hard work and diligence in academics, your outstanding record in volunteerism, and your sense of fairness and responsibility towards your fellow peers shows a remarkable level of maturity, but I believe you all already know that. Am I right?"

Murmured chuckling sounded from the crowd. Each of the students except for Clark's girl nodded.

"You disagree, Ms. Kent?"

The burnt-umber-haired girl stepped up to him with her hand outstretched. The crowd shifted uneasily, and others murmured about her, but someone shouted, "Let her speak, Mr. President!"

"Someone get her a mic," Lex insisted.

A staffer handed a microphone to her in under a minute.

"Mr. President," she began in a stately manner most nine-year olds could never manage. "Everyone is capable of these things for which we are being awarded. However, it's _your_ job to stress that, while role models we may be, it is possible for anybody to be honest, fair, and hardworking whatever the discipline. It merely takes conviction to do that which is right. Thank you." She handed the microphone back to the staffer, while the crowd went nuts.

That's when hell's gates broke open.

Bullets were tearing up the stage front, while students screamed. Some fled off the stage, while others were snatched by trained staffers. Lex grabbed the girl—scant seconds that earned him a couple of hits to his back—and ensconced the both of them behind the podium, slamming the inner door shut that automatically locked.

The sound of bullets ricocheting or embedding themselves in the armored podium reverberated through Lex. He knew he had to be doing something right if people were trying to kill him, again, but he hated that innocents were caught in the crossfire.

There were cracks of gunfire raging outside and screaming as absolute panic ignited. He clicked on the tiny light inside the cramped 'safe room' to banish the darkness. "You alright?"

"I…" She stared down at her arm, dragging her fingers through the blood dripping from her shoulder. Her eyes were bottle green, like Clark's. The photos of her always gave a flat color to them.

"Let me bandage that." Lex pulled the two clean handkerchiefs from his pockets, balled them up and pushed one on either side of the wound to make a compress.

Lara didn't cry. Lex wasn't sure if she was in shock or not. "Hold this."

The small, shaky hand with a silver ring around the thumb pressed the cotton against her shoulder, while Lex singlehandedly ripped the sleeve off of his delicate long-sleeved shirt. He quickly wrapped it from the top of her shoulder to around the opposite side of her waist. He was starting to feel dizzy and then his breathing clipped in a way he knew was trouble when he tasted pennies in his mouth.

"You're shot, too." Her bloodied hand hovered over the two that had gone through cleanly in the front. Then, she concentrated her attention on his chest and got a very frightened look on her face.

"It goes with the detail," he joked, trying to keep her calm. "I'll be okay."

She frowned at him in concern. "They missed your heart but..."

Lara Kent sounded as if she might argue the point of his health.

"You're handling this well. Are you trained in first aid?" Lex asked her. The world had that fuzzy-edged charm. He coughed a bit into his remaining sleeve, which came away dark red.

What the hell happened to his security detail? The paramedics? Lex had a feeling this latest assassination attempt might prove successful. He leaned into the podium wall. The muffled sound of gunfire and cries of 'Superman!' came through. Lex didn't have the energy to roll his eyes at the irony of his arch-nemesis coming to his aid.

"Not exactly…trained," came the hesitant reply. A soft touch pressed against his shirt, causing a sharp thrust of pain.

His eyes fluttered only seeing snippets of worry from the young girl.

"I won't let you die," she stated firmly. Light bloomed from her fingertips and quickly blotted out the dim light above his head.

Lex blinked several times, dismissing the vision of his mother knelt next to him, and then he no longer felt like he was drowning in his own blood. In fact, he was much more alert than he ought to be with his injuries. "Lara, what did you—"

The girl collapsed against him, hands outstretched and arms curled between them.

"Sir!" Two people wearing ballistics gear had ripped open the door after keying the unlock sequence and helped him to stand. "Airlift's here to take you, sir!" A bullet-proof helmet was placed on the President's head as he was flanked on all sides, completely surrounded. Lex stayed low, protectively cradling the girl in his arms.

Lex managed to make it to the helicopter without anyone shooting at him and buckled in with her in his lap. He absolutely wouldn't let this current Kent mystery slip from his grasp.

As the side door closed, over the soldier manning the gun inside the helicopter he saw Superman. A hard stare came from his arch-nemesis dressed in bright blue and red spandex. Lex snorted, lightly patting the Kent girl's head. As if _he'd _had anything to do with this latest attempt on his life.

Men and women dressed as Secret Service, Sam among them, were hogtied, near knee-high red boots. A pile of assault weaponry and grenades were a hundred meters off. The place was swarming with police, the FBI, and the National Guard.

"Hospital. Now," Lex ordered into the mic built into the helmet.

"Right away, Mr. President."

The girl didn't stir.

**TBC.**


	3. And Yet Another Kent Secret

_**Author's notes:**__ I perhaps should have mentioned that I totally ignored Smallville canon from about season six on. Candycorn for my reviewers! :D ... I'm not sure what you're trying to say Anon, but I appreciate your passion for Lex's character. _

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The doctors were amazed that Lex had only been grazed. He wouldn't dare correct them.

After given the okay to leave the room, Lex slipped on the new set of clothes his staffers had provided in full knowledge that they'd trash the bloodied old set. He was surprised at his newest second-life. "Where's the girl?"

"This way, sir."

Lex was quickly led to the ICU. He was only allowed in the hallway where an observation window was. There were several machines next to her, tubes wound away from her airway, and an IV was stuck in her arm. He glanced at the doctor. "What's wrong with her?"

"Her body is in severe shock. We theorize it may have been caused by the initial trauma of the bullet and exacerbated by her high white blood cell count. These factors combined may have caused her comatose state."

"Cancer?"

"We would run tests if we had permission from her legal guardians."

"Have you notified her father and grandparents?"

"Yes, sir. They gave us her past history where this has happened before, but have no information about her parents since she was adopted. They have refused treatment besides what is minimal to keep her alive."

Lex scowled inwardly, while outwardly maintaining his professional façade. So, she'd gone into a coma before… Doing what? Or rather, _healing_ what?

Instead he asked, "How's her shoulder?"

"It required no stitching since the wound had already closed."

Lex stared at the doctor, thinking he heard wrong. "It closed?"

The doctor nodded. "From what you described, Mr. President, we were expecting to give her a blood transfusion as well, but we couldn't type her blood and our O neg blood supply is low. It's… well, miraculous, sir, that her blood pressure showed no significant decrease in blood volume."

That was surprising. Lex frowned in thought. "Did you take extra blood samples?"

"Yes for the extra tests we wanted to perform, but—"

"Keep them on ice for now."

The doctor looked affronted, but before he could respond there was an intimidated, "Sir?" to Lex's left.

Lex turned. "Yes?"

"There's a Mr. Clark Kent here to see his daughter."

Lex wasn't going to ask Clark how he managed to get into this highly secure military base, since that would draw attention to the fact that Clark had no real business being on a military installation without permission. That had never stopped the intrepid journalist before.

"Let, Mr. Kent in," Lex told her.

A few minutes later, the man in an unfitted business suit walked in a general direction towards him, apologetically bumbling into empty beds and people.

Irritated by the display, Lex succeeded in not pinching the bridge of his nose.

"M-mr. President," Clark stammered as he pushed the thick black framed glasses onto his nose again.

"Clark, my name is Lex. Use it."

"Mr. Lex, I.. er…" Clark looked him over head to foot, similar to the sweep his girl had done. "I want to thank you for protecting Lara."

"I was doing my civic duty, Clark. You're here to see your daughter, right?" Lex gestured towards the window. "Unfortunately, she's in a coma. For how long I don't know."

Clark's expression looked stricken before Lex lost sight of it when Clark pressed his hands against the window. "Lara…"

Lex held out a hand to block him when Clark reached for the door. "They contacted her legal guardians. I assumed you knew."

"I…uh.. didn't have my cell on."

Or he didn't have legal guardianship over her. "Has this happened before?"

"When she was three, she went into a coma for about a month."

Lex did the math. Almost seven years ago he was a US Senator for Kansas, and Clark's father had decided to challenge his then undefeated position. At the time, there'd been media reports about Jonathan Kent's heart problems. Now the current state senator seemed to have no such issues.

Aware of the ears around them, Lex stated evenly, "Clark, I know she's a very capable young girl." He glanced towards his security detail so Clark knew to watch his mouth, and then Lex lightly touched at the places where he'd been shot. "It's miraculous that I was only grazed," Lex said steely, implying that he was most certainly not grazed.

Appearing to miss all the careful nuances, Clark bobbed his head. "I need to sign her out and take her with me."

"She is going nowhere until her rightful guardians arrive."

His ex-lover winced, but said nothing.

Bull's eye. Lex had a feeling he knew why. Meteor freaks were just another form of the feared—and growing—Mutant population. Several states had passed laws on their registration. Kansas was luckily not among them mostly due to Senator Kent's persistence, yet. On a federal level, all bills making Mutants equitable before Law was soundly struck down in the House of Representatives, and Lex had to veto two separate anti-Mutant bills in the six years he'd spent in the office of Presidency.

"You broke off our relationship, and then what happened, Clark? Got dumped, but never established paternity? Way to go." Lex drawled sarcastically, shaking his head.

Clark's cheeks colored, and he looked ashamed. "I'm sor—"

Raising a hand abruptly, Lex cut him off, "I don't want to hear your platitudes."

The sunlight filtering through the window across from them was suddenly blocked as a staff person shut the blinds.

"Why are they closing the blinds?" Clark squinted through the window to the room on the opposite side of the ICU. He fumbled for the door knob, but again Lex stopped him.

"Because the light can bother the patients."

Monitors were going off in Lara's room.

"Out of the way!"

Lex and Clark moved aside, though the latter looked on the verge of some form of an anxiety attack.

"She needs sunlight, Lex."

Lex blinked. "Strange. That's not normally prescribed."

Clark twitched. Suddenly the doctors and staff were in a panic since their patient had disappeared. The bed sheets were pushed back, little wireless sensors studding the mattress and all the tubes and IV lines were hanging from the machines, which were in alarm mode with pulsing, piercing screeches.

Lex looked hard at Clark, who fumbled with his glasses and shrugged uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "I would call DHS on you because you are obstructing much needed care for your daughter." He waved towards the emptied room. "But I won't, do you know why Clark?"

He shook his head, not meeting Lex's steady gaze.

Leaning in, Lex whispered angrily, "Because that little girl saved my life, I won't ruin her chance at her dreams to put you in your place." Clark was too much of a coward. It was almost nauseating to stand near him with the racket of the ICU all around them.

"I should've told you but—"

"Mr. President, pardon the intrusion. You're looking impeccable despite these circumstances," interrupted Cindy Kurtz, his media strategist, hardly glancing at Clark. "After an attempt on your life—for the third time!—the public really needs to be reassured. Come this way!"

"Good day, Mr. Kent," Lex ended their conversation, abruptly following the energetic blonde, who continued to rattle off what was being done to contain nationwide alarm.

She told him about how his vice president, who was far more conservative than he and not as politically experienced, had jumped the gun about the success of the assassination attempt and was currently in custody on charges of treason and conspiracy to kill the President of the United States. Lex figured Jim was the fall guy. He was too much of an idiot to be anything but a follower.

At any rate, Lex would find out what group was behind this. After that was dealt with, he'd determine Lara Kent's whereabouts.

Whatever Clark had to say before fate intervened to silence him _might_ have been important, but Lex had no time to dwell on that. He was wholly focused on removing certain political enemies sooner than he realized.

**TBC.**


	4. Unexpected Kent Letter

_**Author's notes:**__ Hah, this fic is a fun break from my other stories. Thank you for reading!_

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Lex rubbed his eyes after taking a long sip of his favorite aged brandy. It had taken three days of constant placating for the most vocal of his country's people to move on from their upset.

He'd learned through Cindy that Lara Kent was on extended leave from her public charter school in Metropolis due to personal reasons. That was all nicely put on paper, but Lex had a hunch that it was because the media hounds and paparazzi couldn't bear to leave her alone after she had experienced a near-death experience in the company of a sitting president.

He was glad that the girl's location was unknown and that absolutely no one who knew her stepped up to claim the cash reward the media offered for that information.

For his part in saving her life, the Daily Planet had been forced to headline his heroism, when they normally demonized his pro-business agenda.

So, because of a photograph of him taken moments before he sought cover with a wide-eyed little girl in his grasp was plastered across the world, it seemed the public's opinion of him had skyrocketed. While he had that short-lived, mostly positive attention focused on him, Lex would be leaking some very incriminating information about several rank-and-file Representatives and Senators currently serving in office. What made the effort so much sweeter was that the conspiracy outlined in the documents required no exaggeration for general public consumption.

It turned out that several disgruntled interns in the finance office had carefully documented unusual money activity in those congressmen's offices. This 'money activity' was confirmed to have led indirectly through numerous dummy corporations and SuperPACs to criminal organizations that had sent the assassins.

Lex thumbed the edge of the presidential table. By now, his media source would have received the information by a reliable insider, not known to be connected to the president. It made things cleaner that way.

There was a rap on the door.

Glancing up, Lex leaned back into the plush chair. "Come in."

"Sir, you said to deliver any correspondence from a Mr. Clark Kent…"

"Yes, I did." Years ago during his first-term. That was back when he was sure Clark would tell Lex where the hell he'd been in the two years he'd dropped off the face of the planet. The single time they'd crossed paths at a White House conference, the fresh-faced reporter had muttered cryptically about ice-fishing and polar bears before beating a hasty exit.

Curious to know what _that _was about, Lex contacted aresearch scientist in Antarctica, who said no such person matching that name or description had stayed during the period of time when Clark had disappeared. Regardless of where he'd gone, Clark had returned to Metropolis physically healthy, but with this _incompetent_ personality that was difficult to take seriously. Gone was the steely attentiveness and hesitant suspiciousness that had always marked Clark. These qualities seemed overwritten by this overly amiable, clumsy stranger, whose own coworkers and acquaintances accepted without any reservations of their own.

Plucking the letter from the gopher's hand, Lex knew it'd already been opened and searched. The President hoped that Clark had been smart enough to be discreet. He slipped the paper out and unfolded it. It was cheap copy paper, but the text had been printed.

Lex skimmed it. Stared at the print on the thin paper. Then he read it again more thoroughly. "Get me on the phone with Dr. Harold Roelf. He's head of Gerb-Stein Research Institute."

"Of course, sir."

Stroking his chin, Lex looked off distantly. Well, that would explain _a lot_, if a third party confirmed it.

"He's on Line 1, sir."

"Thanks." Lex picked the old-time receiver up. "Dr. Roelf. I'm calling in a favor…"

**TBC.**


	5. A Luthor Among Kents

_**Author's notes:**__Yeah, so these chapters are short-ish, but that's deliberate. _

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A couple weeks later, after numerous political events, an all-clear from the Secret Service, and a successful coup against the perpetrators responsible for the attempted assassination, Lex entered the Gerb-Stein Research Institute from a back entrance, flanked by guards.

Dr. Roelf waited in a nearby, windowless room.

Once the guards finished their sweep, Lex closed the door. "Well?"

"Congratulations, she's yours."

Lex couldn't quite keep the sour look from his face. "You're sure?"

"Positive. But…" The Doctor of Genetics hesitated.

"Any severe genetic defects I should be aware of?"

"Well," Dr. Roelf switched on the holo-projector. A three-dimensional hologram of a human DNA molecule appeared on the table, spinning sluggishly. "Here is a snippet of your DNA." He clicked his remote and a second hologram appeared twisting strangely. "And this is your daughter's."

Lex stared at the oddly shaped DNA strand with strands poking out of the helix at odd angles. "I didn't ask for an in-depth analysis." Fury began to unfold in his gut at the man, knowing what was about to come out of Dr. Roelf's mouth.

"There are three strands in her DNA! You've got a scientific mind yourself! You know this isn't normal human DNA. That's why with your permission, we'd like to study it more."

Lex grit his teeth, smiling sinisterly. "My daughter will never see the inside of this facility."

The doctor looked at him calmly. "I would not say she is entirely human, sir. I'd like to cross-reference—"

"I don't care, and if I find out you pursued this, legal troubles are the least of your concern. Good day, Dr. Roelf." Lex wasn't about to waste any more time on him. He had his answer, and he was very angry.

"But—!"

Ignoring the scientist's rebuttals, Lex walked into the abutting, enclosed parking garage.

He would have suspected his father of some twisted plot, if Lex hadn't personally attended his death.

Lex ground his teeth down. Where exactly had Clark found her and why hadn't he mentioned anything to Lex before now?

Unfortunately, being president left very little time to pursue extracurricular mysteries. Lex needed to calm down before he continued on to the summit on global warming, even if Clark's newest exposed secret aggravated the hell out of him.

Boarding the Beast, Lex sat back and centered himself methodically, relaxing the bunched up muscles in his neck and face. He _would_ discover Lara's origins, eventually. He would hire several private investigators through a third party to check on the numerous women he'd been with in the time-frame between nine to ten years ago.

Tensing his jaw once, he shaped his expression into cool poise even while half-baked uncertainties simmered inside of him. He didn't need to confront Clark Kent because he would figure this mystery out on his own soon enough. Besides, he'd long grown out of the need to read the truth hidden between the spoken lies.

**TBC.**


	6. The Kent Mystery Disclosed

_**Author's notes:** This chapter was supposed to be posted two weeks ago, but upon re-reading it I rewrote it. Timeline-wise, I finally see that the AU-ishness came in during Season 2. Whitney Fordman never went MIA and returned to marry Lana Lang, totally negating the Clark/Lana and Lex/Lana arcs. Secondly, you may be wondering why Clark's parents weren't all freaked out that he'd been missing for two years and then reappeared. That mystery will be solved if I decide to write a pre-quel.  
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A month later, Lex sat behind his desk and massaged his temples. He was glad that things seemed somewhat calm in the world's political sphere. Thanks to Superman's appearance about ten years ago political leaders were much less likely to start something over nothing.

Yet, no thanks to Superman and his Justice League buddies, crazier and inhumanly powerful villains were hell-bent on destroying the world, which made it increasingly difficult to explain to the US populace that 'Mutants Are People Too'.

Hearing a familiar chime, Lex took a drink of his water and then slid a finger over his palm-sized tablet sitting on the immaculate desk next to his elbow.

His eyes scanned over the encoded email message. The PIs had compiled their preliminary investigation and plastered a big Unknown as to the identity of Lara's mother.

Lex wasn't angry about that. This kind of mystery took a lot of time and patience to unravel.

However, to show that they hadn't been wasting his money, they'd sent information of eleven unplanned pregnancies of his previous lovers. Of them, six miscarried, three were aborted, and the last two resulted in live births with such severe congenital brain defects that neither child survived past two months.

All in all, a discouraging picture of Lex's genetic legacy. Just from this sample of pregnancies, Lara was lucky to have been born at all.

The Oval Office phone rang next to him. It was mid-morning, and he'd been expecting a call. He picked it up. "Yes?"

His secretary hesitated half of a second. "Sir, Dr. Vala Nukom is here to see you."

Lex blinked, not recognizing the name. "…She has an appointment with me?"

His secretary didn't falter. "Yes, sir."

"I'd forgotten. Send her in."

"Right away, sir."

He'd made no such appointment, but this sort of thing was expected with the people employed by the government who didn't exist. Lex hung up and stood, facing the dark haired woman who strode in confidently. He held out a hand to her. "What's this about?"

She shook it firmly. "Mr. President. If I may get straight to the point."

"Of course." He gestured for her to sit down as he retook his seat. He clasped his hands together, waiting attentively.

She settled into the chair across from his desk. "It has come to my attention recently that you have a daughter who is part-Kryptonian."

Lex breathed in gradually. Allowing that statement to weigh on his mind, Lex briefly wondered if this doctor was insane. Then, he laughed. "Oh, that's rich. I'm supposed to believe that Lara Kent is Superman's daughter too?"

"She is." Dr. Vala Nukom's face was serious. The kind of serious that made Lex pause and take notice.

Lex pursed his lips. "Is there some…" He waved a hand, fluttering his fingers. "Secret governmental program trying to clone Superman that I was not aware of?" he asked brightly. "Because if that's the case, I would've liked to have known that my DNA was going to be hijacked for unethical purposes."

"No… No, there's no such program," Dr. Nukom insisted.

Lex stared at her, expecting her to explain her preposterous claim on Lara's 'mother'. When she didn't, he raised an eyebrow, "Is that all?"

Dr. Nukom looked unaffected by his condescension. "Mr. President, I wish to assure you of your daughter's continued legal protections as a US citizen even if she were to join the Kryptonian Community."

At that, Lex narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, thinking he heard wrong. "'Kryptonian Community'?" he asked slowly, rolling the icy words over his tongue.

"You only know of Superman, right?" She smiled gently. "Don't fret, Mr. President, we are all held to the law like any other US citizen. Like Superman, we only desire a peaceful coexistence."

"You're Kryptonian," Lex managed with a stilted tone. To think he shook hands with her.

She nodded. "I know this must be a shock for you, considering your xenophobic tendencies."

Lex carefully smoothed out his voice so it wasn't choked with his building ire at the woman who was looking less and less insane. "And what does your _peaceful_ living entail, Dr. Nukom?"

"I am a general practitioner and surgeon. As such, I do basic examinations and provide standard procedures for my brethren."

"Such as…?"

"Irradiated pieces of my home planet are spread around the globe. Exposure to IK can cause acute poisoning, sickness, or even death if left untreated."

"And you treat this how?"

She smiled tightly. "Mr. President, I didn't come here to be interrogated."

Lex clucked his tongue in a disbelieving tone. "You waltz in here and say that there's an entire group of Super-people living on Earth _peacefully._ And I'm supposed to believe you," Lex nodded while he put on a thoughtful face, "just like that?" His fingers opened like the petals of a flower, paired with a graceful wrist flick.

"Which part do you disbelieve, Mr. President? That I am Kryptonian or that there are many of us who have been living here _peacefully_?"

"Both, but I mainly care about the latter."

"The fact that we've been living here for over a century by the Solarian calendar is not convincing enough?"

Lex chuckled. "Oh come on. There's archaeological evidence suggesting that your kind has been to Earth for longer than that."

"While it is true that my race has visited this planet on several occasions in the distant past, it was only to study Solarian's diverse cultures. We never intended to make such a lasting impact, though Solarian… that is, _human_ superstitions of gods and demons have been to Superman's benefit."

Lex well knew what little effort an army of Kryptonians had to expend to decimate the globe. Peace? Lex mentally snorted. Kryptonians didn't want peace. They strove for power and control, a peacefulness where no one was free.

"_Why_ are you really here, Dr. Nukom?" Lex had a hunch that she was here because he owned nearly all of the green meteor rock that could be found on Earth.

Dr. Vala Nukom's smile, which had never quite reached her eyes, smoothed into a flat line. "President Luthor, do you know where your daughter is?"

He stood up slowly, eyes steely as he splayed his hands onto his desk to lean forward menacingly. "I assumed she was with her legal guardians."

"She is not with them."

Lex's jaw clenched, and he glared at her, his fingers flexing near the button to open the box of meteor rock sitting on the desk. "If you threaten me with Lara's life, I will kill you."

"She is with Kal-El." She calmly stood to stand eye level with him, untouched by the threat.

Lex's lips bared his teeth, glad that he hadn't had a drop of alcohol in his system in 24 hours. He slammed his fist down on his desk, unable to repress the rage swelling to the surface. "That damn Superman kidnapped her—!"

"President Luthor. It is only rational that Lara Kal-El spends time with her deliverer. Calm yourself," the doctor said with a patronizing tone that implied that he was the one being unreasonable.

Lex's eyes grew colder, matching the murderous look Dr. Nukom directed at him. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down," he growled, tapping his finger agitatedly on the desk.

"My apologies." She tilted her head forward in a strangely sudden show of submission, catching Lex off guard.

An incensed Lex found himself too distracted by the Kryptonian's bizarrely non-aggressive posture. "I thought Kryptonians had a superiority complex."

"It is required that I apologize. I did not intend to sleight the noble house of El through my words or actions."

Anger subsiding, Lex tilted his head, while a smirk slowly slid across his face. "Because you believe I produced a child with Superman… you see me linked to his family?"

"You did not impregnate a Solarian male, President Luthor. _That_ would be biologically impossible," she insisted, completely dodging Lex's question.

"I'm not so convinced that Lara is his child. There _are_ cloning technologies that could have been modified to produce Lara. Perhaps your community could have produced her," Lex suggested.

"We do not use that technology on this planet. If any so dared, they would be labeled a criminal and executed."

Lex scowled. "Then how do you think she was created?"

Shaking her head, Dr. Nukom exhaled noisily. "_You_ mated with him."

"With 'Kal-El'?" Lex scoffed. "I've been rough with him but I've never sexually assaulted him. And as long as we're talking about it, exactly when was Superman supposed to be pregnant?"

A disgusted grimace twisted her face. "I came to you because Lara damaged herself in her familial duty to repair you, but it is plain to me that this conversation has been a complete waste of time."

Lex opened his mouth, closed it, and then tapped a finger against his desk, while he digested what she'd said. He hated that his daughter was in a coma under Superman's watch, but he wasn't about to let this doctor derail him. "Superman doesn't know that you people exist, does he?"

She frowned at him. "On the contrary, I am one of the few that believe he has forsaken us."

Both of Lex's eyebrows went up at the alien's obvious tone jealousy. "So you came to me because you believe Superman has ignored the Kryptonian Community, yet has regular contact with me, a lowly human." Lex smothered a giggle in his throat at the absurdity. "How do you know that he doesn't actually believe he's the last of his kind?"

"His formal education within the Fortress would have corrected that." Dr. Nukom paused, her expression melting into blankness.

"And?"

She shot him an annoyed look. "If Kal-El has refused to go through the set of Learning Programs that was left for him, simple ignorance would explain his erratic behavior."

"Is there a reason why you and your lot haven't ingratiated yourselves to him?"

"We are not to directly interfere without invitation."

With those words, it suddenly made much more sense why Lex had been approached. Since Superman had no idea that he had a bunch of powerful Kryptonian cronies at his beck and call, these aliens wanted Lex Luthor to enlighten Superman of their presence with this ruse of providing care to his daughter that they thought was a direct descendant of the 'noble house of El'. For now, Lex Luthor would play along.

"I'm still stuck on when exactly I was supposed to have fucked Superman?" Lex spat out. He hadn't so much as looked at a guy, since his brief, illegal affair with Clark. "Lara is almost ten years old. Superman showed up _after_ her birth."

"What a coincidence that is." She tsked.

Lex's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he fought the headache coming on."So, I…" Lex started and then thinned his lips. He opened his mouth as he began to pace. "So, you're saying I… knocked up Superman, _before_ he became Superman?"

"Perhaps it would help you to know that the gestation period for an expecting Kryptonian by Solarian time standards is two years and two months."

Lex abruptly stopped pacing. _Damn it, Clark,_ Lex inwardly swore, while something snapped inside of him. He giggled a little before he could stop himself. Superman was Clark, and Clark was Superman. It was unbelievable how many times Clark's actions and words had convinced him of quite the opposite.

Lex's nostrils flared in irritation. How many years had it been since he last thought of that broken condom? That single accident was the only reason Lara was here today.

After a glance at Dr. Nukom's confident posture, Lex paused to stare out over the green lawn, ruminating over what he'd been told. "So, you let him believe he was the _sole_ _survivor_ of his race sent here to protect the world as some god?" No wonder Clark had gotten a messianic complex.

Dr. Nukom nodded. "I suppose this has come to pass."

Lex laughed at her and cocked his head, "Why does Superman return to being plain old Clark Kent? If he's to be a god, why continue to hide and lie about his nature? Surely he must want to show humanity the way, to be a god among men?"

The doctor's face hardened. "He _will_ eliminate war on Sol and bring a long peace to this planet without fear or hunger. Perhaps he has decided that since Kryptonians live for a very, very long time that this coming peace will be more accepted if it occurs slowly over many centuries. He knows the Solarians better than they know themselves."

"Explain." Lex felt blood-curdling resentment fester in his chest. Violence hummed inside of his head at the thought of this alien's presumption of the inevitable Kryptonian New World Order. It was the one difficulty of presidency. If he opened the box of meteor rock and sent a bullet in her heart, he'd likely be impeached.

"Kal-El is…" Dr. Nukom began softly before her voice grew stronger. "He is the last of the noble House of El, one of the greatest governing Houses of Krypton. Wisdom and honor reside in his very genes. As such, Kal-El… was sent here as an infant to familiarize himself with Solarians."

Lex leaned against his desk to take another drink of water. "How far into the 'Learning Programs' did he have to go to learn that brilliant tidbit?"

"It was imperative he knew his destiny as soon as possible."

Lex had to ask himself what it would have been like to discover that he'd been planted here for an alien takeover. It was a scary thought, considering Lex couldn't seem to help following the path of least resistance. Likely the world would have already been conquered if it were him.

"President Luthor…" The doctor waited for him to turn to look at her. "Will you attempt to contact Kal-El and discover the welfare of Lara Kal-El on our behalf?"

Lex looked at the hard-faced Kryptonian, who'd made a risky bet revealing all she had to him, the ex-lover and arch-nemesis of Superman. "I think you've wasted your time. Superman won't listen to me."

A business card fluttered towards him. He snatched the card before it fell to the ground.

"Perhaps it is not 'Superman' you should approach."

Thumbing the card detailing an office in North Carolina, Lex murmured, "Right."

"Farewell, Mr. President."

"Goodbye, Dr. Nukom."

Once she had gone, Lex sat heavily into his sinfully luxurious leather chair, breathing out his tension. He thought that unexpected meeting with a Kryptonian had gone well. After all, he hadn't had to expose the doctor to meteor rock to get answers to his questions.

He set the business card down next to his tablet. First, he needed to send the bloodhounds from the search for Lara's mother to an investigation on this 'Family Clinic' Dr. Vala Nukom claimed she ran.

Before he reached for his tablet, the phone rang. Lex snapped it up. "President Luthor, speaking."

"Hello, Mr. President. This is Senator Morrison."

Ah, _this_ was the phone call Lex had been awaiting. Hopefully, the conversation would help speed along the Mutant Equality Bill in Congress. He settled back into his chair. "Hello, Senator. You're just the one I wanted to speak to…"

**TBC.**


	7. Square Off With Superman

_**Author's notes: **__I love it when the chapter is easy to write. :D Candy to my reviewers! _

* * *

President Lex Luthor loved a good vacation. It was the only time he could expect Superman to pay him a visit. Usually, the self-righteous prick arrived on the first day once Lex had a moment to himself. Probably some natural disaster somewhere had delayed him.

Sipping wine, Lex laid out on a patio chair under an umbrella in only a pair of white shorts. His Scotland mansion at Smallville still had beautiful grounds. It had been quite the fight to convince the Secret Service that the property was easily secured, but it'd been well worth it.

Lex took in a deep breath of Smallville air. It was blissfully quiet. Too quiet.

A soft whoosh was the only warning he had.

"Glad to see you could make it. We need to talk," he said to the umbrella.

Superman stepped calmly around, crossing his arms across his chest in his usual intimidate-and-lecture pose. "Yes, we do."

Knowing that look of disapproval, Lex laughed and took another drink of his wine before sitting up. "What did I do this time?"

"You set up a terrorist organization in the Congo, which then assassinated several high-ranking officials in neighboring countries."

"Have any proof?" Lex knew there wouldn't be any, since he had nothing to do with it.

"No, but I know you did it."

Normally, this was about the time Lex would taunt Superman. Even though he was more than a little grated at being talked down to by Clark Kent, the delicacy of the situation required Lex to swallow some of his pride and let it go.

Lex slipped off his sunglasses, looking at the alien man who was too good looking to be real and quite altered from Clark Kent's features in key areas. "You know why I love this job, Superman?"

"You're a power hungry control freak who enjoys being a button push away from nuclear war?"

"Christ, Superman, that's cold. A nuclear war would mean the end of human civilization as we know it. I'm not really interested in that kind of scenario. What would be the point of conquering a world without people?"

Superman's stone façade didn't budge an inch.

Of course, Superman actually thought his joke of world conquest was serious. Lex had assumed it was because of Superman's own plans of world domination. It had been flattering the first twenty times to be considered a rival. Now, it was trite and more than a little sad.

"So, how's Lara doing?" Lex calmly asked.

Superman's cheek twitched. "Who?"

Leaning back into his chair, Lex sighed at Kent's tells and slipped his mirror-like wraparound sunglasses back on. "The Lara Kent girl that fell into a coma two months ago that Clark Kent gave to you for special protection?"

"Why would she need special protection?" Superman's voice had dropped low. _Oh_, Lex had hit a nerve knowing information on Lara's whereabouts.

"She's my bastard child. Did Clark Kent not mention that? Better to have her disappear off the face of the planet than for her to fall into my clutches, is that about right?" Lex reached over and picked up a newspaper off the short table next to him. "I don't know how I feel about having a megalomaniac like you raising my daughter."

"You should look in the mirror, Mr. President."

Lex bit down his witty retort to keep the conversation civil and flapped the folded newsprint at the man in the blinding superhero costume. He set the wineglass down on the table. "All I care about is the well-being of my only living blood relative. Is she or is she not doing well?"

Superman glared down at him as if Lex had admitted to releasing a biological agent guaranteed to chemically castrate all mutants. "Lara Kent won't wake for another month."

"Oh good. That gives me plenty of time to start the legal proceedings."

"Legal proceedings?" Superman parroted.

"Yes, against the Kents. I'm going to take custody of Lara."

"Is stealing a child from her guardians a new phase of yours, Luthor? Because that's low even for you."

Lex felt the rage boiling in his gut. His hand tightened around the rolled newspaper as he rose from the chair, anger held back through strength of will. Ducking out from under the umbrella, he strode towards Superman who remained there like a granite post. "You need to get your head checked if you think I'll sit on my hands and pretend Lara isn't my child. Contrary to your belief, I'm perfectly capable of being a responsible parent."

"Lara has done well enough without your bad influence."

"She. Is. _My_. DAUGHTER!" Lex slapped the superhero's arm several times with the balled up newspaper.

Superman stood there like a statue, unaffected by his outburst.

Lex spun away, stormed to the table, and knocked the glass on the ground with a swipe of the newspaper. It shattered staining the gray stone purple. He stared at it, watching the fluid spread. At this moment, hatred was winning in the dance of emotion in Lex's head.

"You really think you're stable enough to parent?"

"How dare you!" Lex jabbed the newspaper towards Superman. "Clark Kent reveals that she's _my _flesh and blood, and then behind my back you both question my qualifications? What gives you the right?"

"Because I happen to agree with Mr. Kent."

"I was never given the chance!" Lex exploded, but then ground down on his jaw, swiping the newspaper away. Too much was riding on this moment to have a complete meltdown and he was very close to that. "Have you given any thought to Lara Kent? You're an alien orphan. Naturally, you'd of all people would understand that a child would want to know!"

"In this case, I'd make an exception," Superman asserted with a sureness that only fueled Lex's colder fury.

"We'll see about that." Lex enunciated and drew the newspaper up, firing his specially patented tranquilizer hidden inside of it.

The big oaf blinked down at his chest and plucked the tiny green dart from the yellow background on his costume. Superman grabbed the newspaper from Lex's lax fingers and tore through the paper revealing a thin lead sheet that had covered a narrow gun. "What are you planning?"

Unsmiling, Lex shrugged. "I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

"I don't think so." Superman stumbled towards the balcony as if he was suddenly dizzy. The gun slipped from his fingers and clattered on the stonework. He reached for the hidden communicator in his ear, but then his legs suddenly turned to jelly and down the superhero went.

"Without me around to keep you on your toes, you've gotten less vigilant. That's not really smart. If I was anyone else, you'd be dead right now, you know." Lex crouched next to the big guy, an epi-pen-like device on hand just in case the symptoms to the tranquilizer were too severe.

Superman tried to speak, but his eyes rolled in his head as his body seized up.

"You're only going to sleep for a bit. Relax."

Superman's limbs weakly flopped on the ground, and then the big alien stopped moving altogether. Lex placed two fingers at his throat to check Superman's pulse and watched the rise and fall of his chest. Satisfied that he'd prepared the right dosage, Lex grabbed the neckline of Superman's garish outfit.

"Let's see what kind of technology's in this suit of yours, shall we?" Lex smirked.

He discovered that the material expanded with little effort off of Superman's shoulders. Stripping the superhero down to nothing, Lex balled the spandex-like costume and cape into a fist. The belt and shoes were standard tooled and shaped leather, not nearly as interesting as the remaining material. He pulled it apart as far as his arms would go and brought it back together. The brightly colored fiber showed no sign of damage or strain. It was both amazingly flexible and surprisingly compact when compressed.

Letting his eyes linger on Clark Kent's well-built nakedness, Lex called over his shoulder shoving the material into his pocket, "Mercy! Hope!"

The slender brunette and a lean blonde appeared in the doorway.

"Take him to one of the guest bedrooms. Tell Brad about our new visitor. You know how he hates surprises."

They nodded and exchanged a glance. Hope disappeared into the hallway and reappeared tugging a lumbering contraption from the hallway.

"You sure this'll work?" Mercy asked.

"We'll see when he wakes up. Until then, you know what to do."

Mercy grunted as she helped Hope roll the extremely heavy Clark Kent onto the metal pallet lift.

Lex picked the gun off the ground, brushing it with tender fingers. If everything went according to plan, Lex would know more secrets and Clark Kent would be none the wiser.

**TBC.**


	8. Luthor's First Heir

_**Author's notes: **__Whew, finals from last semester and now I have a full load of summer classes. ... In addition, I watched Season 9 & 10 of Smallville, and suddenly this scene made a lot more sense with Conner in it. Why didn't Conner haul 'Superman' in in the last chapter? Because he's not supposed to be seen outside of Luthor's properties. Period.  
_

* * *

Slamming the door at the top of the stairs, Clark looked down in confusion at the lower room where Lex was dining with a teenager. The Daily Planet reporter fumbled with the thick, black-framed glasses. "What am I doing here?"

"Oh, hello, Clark. I'm glad you're okay." Lex dabbed his face with a cloth napkin. "My security team found you out in the woods."

The owlish look on Kent's face was priceless. He checked his milky blue cuff links in his ill-fitted coat and tie and looked around disoriented as he descended the stairs. "They did?"

"Yes, I had to convince them you weren't another assassin." Lex gestured towards Conner, who stared at Clark with an intense curiosity. "Clark, this is my son, Conner."

Black-haired, hazel-eyed Conner grinned, wearing his Excelsior uniform. "Hey, Clark."

Clark looked at him, wondering why he looked so familiar. "I didn't know you had a son," Clark mumbled towards Lex who was eating poached eggs.

"I'm illegitimate. No one knows I'm a Luthor, since my last name's Kentley," Conner said matter-of-factly as he refilled his glass.

"If I die, he's set for life what being my only legal heir at this time," Lex added nonchalantly.

"Don't even joke about that," Conner's eyes flashed angrily.

Clark nervously adjusted his glasses. "I see."

"Why don't you eat dinner with us, Clark?" Conner asked brightly. "Papa said you liked breakfast foods, right?"

Clark looked out of sorts as he leaned against the back of a chair as he looked at the large collection of delicious-smelling food on the table. The chair let out a creak of protest, and he quickly righted himself. "I think I'll pass."

Conner's face fell. Lex had tried to warn his teenage son about Clark's general indifference, but it still stung to see Conner's feelings hurt.

"I would have thought that a reporter of your caliber would be begging for an exclusive interview with me." With subtle intimidation, Lex flapped open the very same newspaper that he'd used to hide the gun from Superman.

Nervousness flitted over Kent's features as he frowned at the newspaper. "I… don't write those kinds of articles." He rubbed at his eyes and readjusted his glasses again.

"That's too bad… You don't even want to catch up with your son?"

"My son? I thought you said…" The reporter swallowed hard as he stepped back. He'd probably already deduced what Conner was and was worried that at any moment he'd become unstable like Lex's other failed clones.

"I'm what happens when you mix the right bit of DNA together and grow it in a tank for a few months," Conner said easily between bites of his egg sandwich.

The reporter chuckled nervously. "Haha, funny." He jerked a thumb towards the door awkwardly. "I'm gonna go. Lois is going to kill me if I don't get back to the office."

"That wasn't a—" Conner started.

"You're a freelancer, Clark. You don't get paid salary, and you don't have a set schedule." Lex set his food and silverware down, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Kent squirmed uncomfortably into a half-shrug, while the rest of his body seemed to scream 'GET ME THE HELL OUT'. "Well… sources don't wait."

"Dad, you don't want to know about me?" Conner asked slowly.

"You're... what, fifteen?" Kent's face fought to maintain its composure. "LuthorCorp's cloning technology is just now getting up to specs. I don't know what Lex told you or why he would do this to you, but I'm not your father."

Conner could have argued the point, pulled out detailed data logs, shown videos of his fetus emerging in the aforementioned tank, or even shown off the powers of his genetic heritage. Conner's super-speed, super-hearing, and invulnerability could have easily silenced Clark. Instead, Conner's mouth opened like a fish as the reality of Clark's hands-off personality filtered into his mind.

"Conner, Mr. Kent and I need to discuss certain matters. You mentioned that there was a history paper on Alexander the Great that you had to finish."

Conner groaned, "But it's nearly done, and _he's_ here!" The sixteen-year old threw an arm out towards Kent.

"I'll tell you the highlights later if you promise not to listen in, and I'll even throw in that SolidWorks program and computer system you wanted."

"Okay, but you better keep your word," Conner scowled unhappily.

"You know I always do," Lex said levelly, looking at Clark who continued to have a perplexed expression at their exchange.

With a whoosh, Conner disappeared.

Kent stared up at the door at the top of the landing, where Conner's room was and where Clark had woken up. "So, that's why you were against the Vigilante Registration Act as a Senator and now against any anti-Mutant legislation. Because he has… abilities."

Lex didn't bother to let loose words boiling in his head at Clark's continued farce. Pushing himself out of the wooden chair, Lex clasped his hands behind his back and stood across from the reporter. "What happened to us, Clark?"

His mouth worked, but nothing came out. Clark grimaced, probably still fixated on Conner's origins, and then looked away, mumbling, "I have to go."

This was turning out less successful than Lex had hoped. "Clark, wait."

Clark nodded dismissively, heading towards the double doors. "Can't chat right now. Sorry."

"If you leave through those doors, Mercy will introduce you to a refined bar of meteor rock. You and I both know what happens next."

Clark compulsively touched the blue stones dotting his cuff links, movement that Lex didn't miss. "You still think I'm Superman? Guess I'll have to prove you wrong _again_." Clark smiled reassuringly.

"Clark—"

The dunce opened the doors, revealing Mercy who thrust her green bar out like a weapon. Clark fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He stared down at his green-veined hands in disbelief before his weakness overtook him and sent him sprawling to the floor.

Lex calmly stepped forward. With labored breathing, Clark didn't turn to glare at him, attempt to say a word, or even try to escape. It must have shocked him into a stupor, which soon passed.

"How long?" The reporter finally growled.

"How long what?" Lex asked innocently.

Clark groaned in pain and panted as he flexed his fingers on the wooden floor. "How long have you known about me?" He ground out.

"Enough, Mercy," Lex said.

Obediently, she dropped her arm and stepped back into the hallway, shutting the doors that were custom built with a particularly dense metal.

Immediately color returned to Kent's face, and he slowly pulled himself up.

"I've known for a while your special connection to Superman." Though Lex had known Clark was a very special mutant due to Conner's abilities, Lex had never tested green Kryptonite on Conner because he had not wanted to risk a psychotic break in his son's fragile mind out of mere curiosity. And if Lex had been unscrupulous in experimenting on his own child, it was unlikely he would have learned about the large number of Kryptonians living on the planet or their particular distaste for cloning. It was vital to understand the Kryptonians prejudice against clones before he revealed Conner to those savages.

"And Conner is…?"

"After the first six months you were gone, I thought you were dead. Grief drives people to do crazy things and since I had plenty of your DNA around…"

"So you…" Clark balled up his fists. "You played God? You made a clone of me?"

"No, I spliced our DNA together, Clark, but don't worry, he's completely stable. Did you know he's already completed enough college credits to forgo his freshman year at MIT? Though Lara will likely get a doctorate before he does, it'll be a close tie."

Clark swayed onto his feet and then he showed not an iota of physical weakness. He'd rebounded quickly from the meteor rock. "Did you make this suit with lead?"

Lex was completely unsurprised at the change to a safe topic. "Lined it, yes." Lex was trying to prove a point, not make Clark pass out.

"You could have killed me if you wanted to. Now, you've lost your element of surprise." Clark's green eyes showed that he was deeply disturbed by the situation.

"I don't want to kill you, Clark." Lex reached for his face, but Clark pulled away suspiciously.

"And why's that?"

"Oh let me think," Lex drawled blandly, knowing the real reason wouldn't be believed. "If I remember right, there was a hell planet dropping meteors on Earth halfway through my first term. Does the name Darkseid ring any bells?"

"I took care of it, saving you and everyone on Earth." Clark's face twisted. "I'm too useful to kill. Is that what you're saying?"

Lex sighed, suddenly weary at the present course of conversation and quickly changed the subject. "You know, I stole your suit."

The reporter's big hands reached for the front of his own shirt and tore it apart. Buttons popped off effortlessly revealing the lead peeking from the seams. Lex watched fixated while Clark ran a hand over his bared chest.

Clark glared. "I want it back."

"Why, don't have another one?" Lex let his eyes wander in appreciation.

"Did you really find me out in the woods, or did you wipe my memory?" Clark asked forcefully.

"You didn't really leave me much of a choice."

"If this is some plan to threaten the Justice League…" Clark reached for the hidden communicator in his ear that Lex had told Mercy and Hope to leave untouched.

"Clark, I don't give a _damn_ about them! This is about you and me!" Lex violently gestured towards Clark and himself. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with those self-righteous terrorists. "Please. I want to talk." Lex raised his hands up with a grave look. "Do you know… I would have done anything for you."

Clark dropped his hand from his ear and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "What do _we_ have to talk about?"

"I want to know why you left without a word to anyone or even a note. Did I mean as little to you as your actions appeared to communicate?" Lex asked bitterly.

"No. I… I didn't leave because I didn't care…" Clark floundered for a few moments. Then, his face hardened and he half-turned away. "What do you really want? You can't really want to.. to make up or—"

"Don't presume to know me, Clark. You've shown me repetitively what you think of me." Lex took a breath to center himself. "Now, answer the question. What did you find out about your mysterious illness that was so bad that you ran away from me? Why couldn't you tell me that you could be cured by your talking fortress?"

A hostile green gaze met Lex's levelheaded stare. "It won't change anything between us. Too much has happened to make things right." Clark sounded hollowed out and tired. "You already know why I left anyway. Why bother asking?"

Pinching his nose, Lex mentally counted to three, and then dropped his fingers. "It's true I know you gave birth to Lara, but I wanted to hear it from you. It's a futile effort to wrench the truth from you, but I seem to have cultivated self-destructive habits, so why not?"

"How did you find out?" Clark asked quietly, unable to look him in the eye.

Lex ticked off the points with a hand. "Your morning sickness started the morning after the condom broke. Admittedly that was a little fast if you were human, but since you're an alien it makes perfect sense. And then you ate and ate with a particular fixation on pickled turnips and iceberg lettuce. Within a week your muscles turned into fat before the 'mysterious' wasting illness took effect, sapping you of any superhuman strength you had." Lex dropped his hand, his expression relaxing. "With fresh eyes, I can say with utmost certainty that that hadn't been cancer growing on your colon like the doctors had assumed."

"…" Clark stared at him blankly, while Lex impatiently waited for him to quickly get over whatever was causing the interminably long silence. "You… don't find that disgusting?"

Lex waved a hand dismissively. "I'm more concerned with the end result. Speaking of which, have you told Lara who she really is or did you keep her in the dark like everyone else?"

"She knows everything."

Lex was taken aback. "Everything? That's unlike you."

Clark's eyes lifted to Conner's room. "I didn't want her to spend her life wondering whether her real parents ever loved her."

"And you told her about me?" Lex raised an incredulous eyebrow.

Clark looked away. "I may have left some things out, but, yes, she knows about you and how I didn't tell you."

"I understand how a washed-up super-villain doesn't make for a wholesome story of fatherhood."

"You're not washed-up."

"I'm touched you think so highly of me. Sadly, running a country really _does _eat up all my free time. Most of my personal projects have fallen to the wayside in the process."

Clark frowned. "Then the trouble Superman had in the Congo… That wasn't you? It had your trademark villainy stamped all over it."

"I know more about the intricacies of NAFTA, our trade agreement with South America, than whatever rebellions are going on down there," Lex said smoothly. "Let's be honest. I haven't been active since midway through my first term. After you defeated the Darkseid, I didn't feel like you needed my little games to keep you on your toes."

"So… Superman visited you for nothing?"

Interesting how Clark and Superman both referred to each other in third person. It was probably a tactic to keep his memory straight of which alias did what. "I happen to like your visits, even if it's to lambast me for something I haven't done. Who wouldn't want the most powerful being on the planet acting as your parole officer to make sure you behave?"

Clark's cheek twitched at the description. "It was supposed to be a deterrent."

Lex chuckled, "Like I said, I was busy."

"I still don't trust you. Why would you go through all this trouble…?"

Heavily, Lex sighed. This time he went to his bar to get a drink, "As flattered as I am that I'm officially your super-villain, there's nothing to tell. The only thing I'm guilty of is trying to repair our working relationship so our children will have the benefit of two parents."

"What makes you think that I'm going to allow you to meet Lara?"

Picking up a glass of scotch, Lex laughed.

When he looked at Clark's puzzled expression, Lex took a gulp of scotch. "You've kept her a secret for whatever reason you justified, and then out of the blue you sent that letter."

Their eyes met before Clark's furtively looked away.

"I couldn't believe it at first that the letter didn't come with terms. You could have asked for whatever you desired if your assertion proved accurate, but by the tone of the letter I know you didn't do it to apologize for your earlier actions."

When Clark still said nothing, Lex looked at the scotch in his glass, musing, "The more I think about it the more certain that I am that you planned for this…" Lex smiled at the sharp, sun-darkened jawline. "Didn't you, Clark?"

Clark licked his lips. "I… I thought you'd be angry."

"I _was_ furious, which is why I have my lawyers filing a paternity suit as soon as Lara is returned safely home." Lex dipped the glass in quick circles, watching the small amount of fluid slosh up the sides, and remembered Superman's earlier goading. "You _wanted_ me to be the bad guy and snatch her away from your family. I have to admit, it's more than a little disturbing coming from you. What made you write that letter, Clark?"

Clark's expression was distant and detached. "Batman warned that she could become a potential liability. She's not invulnerable. She bleeds like everyone else."

Not allowing himself to care who Clark told his secret identity to, Lex rubbed his forehead and scalp and then kicked the rest of the drink back. His throat burned pleasantly. "So why me? Why not one of the support staff of the Justice League or someone else?"

"I figured you'd keep her safer than anyone else I could think of. She's too smart, Lex. She gets away from my parents all the time."

"That's quite the leap of faith, sending her into my sphere of _influence_," Lex said bitingly. "Hell, Clark, elevating her to President's Daughter will make her even more of a target. If you haven't noticed, I've had more assassination attempts on my life than any other standing president. In addition, I hardly have a good track record of protecting myself, let alone others."

Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "What about Conner?"

Raising his eyebrows, Lex thought for a moment. "I've kept Conner out of danger for the most part by not revealing that he's related to a Luthor and by forbidding the use of his abilities outside of this building." Lex tilted his head. "Are you asking me to risk Conner by allowing him to protect his sister?"

Clark crossed his arms. "It's either that or Superman will be around more to protect innocent bystanders."

"Was that your original plan? While you're at it, why don't you tell the world Superman's human alias?" Lex refilled his glass, already feeling the haze of tipsiness.

Frowning, Clark took the bottle of expensive scotch from him. "It wouldn't risk anyone. You're President, so—"

"You haven't been interested in protecting me from the very real threats to my life," Lex snapped. "Any fool would see that it wasn't me that Superman had an inordinate interest in, but my daughter. She would become embroiled in even greater danger and chafe at the cloistered life that was foisted on her." Lex drained the glass. "Did you even stop and think to tell Lara of this ill-conceived plan of yours? That you plan to give her up without a fight?"

Looking guilty, Clark shook his head once. "No, but she'll understand."

"You're an idiot." Lex set the empty glass down forcefully on the bar, cutting off Clark's rebuttal. "From what I've gathered, Lara is nearly unmanageable, running off whenever she likes despite your concerns for her safety. That tells me she thinks she's invincible because she believes you'll do whatever it takes to protect her."

With a pinched face, Clark rubbed his neck more, sighing heavily.

"Well." Lex snorted. "I can say one thing. If you follow through with this plan, _our_ daughter is going to hate you."

"But I'' tell her—"

"You're Superman for God's sake, and she's nine. If she knows who you are, nothing you say will make her believe that you can't keep her safe."

"But—"

"You need to remember she's half-human. You've kept her safe up to this point; ergo that's all she'll understand in the sheltered world of Kents, genius level IQ or not."

With a grim face, Clark fell silent, depositing the bottle on Lex's bar, and then turned towards the double doors sluggishly. "Then if we're done talking, I'll go now."

Fingers flexing against the mini bar's marble top, Lex breathed out slowly. "You don't have even the slightest interest in making amends, despite knowing that I deliberately held back from killing Superman?" It was a bluff of course. Lex hadn't known Clark was Superman every time he held himself in check, but in hindsight he was glad that he had and that profound relief came through in his tone.

The reporter didn't turn to look at him. "I'm sorry. I'm no longer the same person you fell in love with. We can't start over."

Was Clark so oblivious that he couldn't hear the longing and regret in his voice?

Aiming the narrow, silver gun that he pulled from his pocket, Lex pulled the trigger.

In the blink of an eye, Clark swung around and caught the projectile. "What's this?" He tried not to betray the hurt he felt, but it flitted on his face like a dying butterfly.

"It's a tranquilizer dart with micro-needles embedded on the outside of the capsule."

A small green stain painted Clark's fingertips where he'd caught it. He had to flick it off with his other hand to remove the burr-like object. "If you plan on brainwashing me, it won't work. I'll remember it eventually, what you did, an' we'll end up hating each other even more. We'll jus' keep goin' 'til we kill each other," Clark slurred.

"If I was going to brainwash you, which I'm not, that martyr complex would be the first thing to go," Lex stated evenly, lowering the gun. So, Clark really did care as deeply about him as Lex did for him. What was hate but passion turned inside-out?

Eyes rolling back, Clark collapsed on the spot with hardly a sound.

Suddenly worried, Lex checked the time. No, he hadn't gone over the safe dosage time limits. Though judging by his reaction to the second dose, Clark might be feeling its effects for a few days, instead of a few hours.

Lex quickly knelt next to Clark and cleaned the journalist's fingertips with an alcoholic wipe that were especially created to attract Kryptonite particles.

It was probably for the better that Clark would continue to think that he'd manipulated Lex into 'stealing' Lara away.

In the interim, Lex was going to personally research if there was a form of meteor rock, likely blue, that explained Clark's vulnerability to cuts, breaks, and bruising. It crossed his mind for only a heartbeat to contact the Kryptonian doctor for information on the matter, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

He snapped off the cufflinks so Clark didn't try anything stupid when he woke up to accidentally reveal his identity.

"Conner!"

In a flash, his son appeared next to him.

"What did you do to him?" Conner knelt next to Clark, lightly touching his shoulder.

"I sedated him," Lex said glumly.

Pain lit up in Conner's eyes. "He rejected me?"

"No, in fact, he wanted you to protect Lara once she's under my care."

Conner immediately perked up. "Really? He said that?"

"Yes, I'll have you transferred over to her new school, when the time comes."

The broad grin was so much like Clark's it stung a little to see it.

The grin faltered. "Then… he rejected you?"

The president stood needing another solid drink. "Drop him off in a sunny place inside his apartment in Metropolis. He'll sleep it off."

A half-second of hesitation came before "Yes, sir." A stiff breeze later, they were both gone.

**TBC.**


	9. An Unlikely Kent Scheme

_**Author's notes: **__I saw Man of Steel and squealed when I saw the LexCorp truck. Lex from Smallville showed up in my head raging at Superman's fight inside of Metropolis. 'That was *my* company's truck. Don't you know there are people on the ground? Morons! ... I bet this will be the reason I hate your guts in the Man of Steel universe. Insurance doesn't cover "Acts of Aliens".' I can't help snickering at him._

* * *

Many weeks later, Lex tapped his fingers against his presidential oak table, agitated, looking at the quartz-like cubes arranged in a row in a box on his desk. Barely registering the cool breeze coming through the open windows behind him, Lex scanned his eyes over the cubes.

The investigation of the Family Clinic hadn't gone so well. Half of the investigators had been discovered in separate towns with no recollection of where they'd been from the time they'd gone missing.

Despite that particular failure to find definitive proof, Lex wasn't disappointed. Each of the investigators had had a cube of refined meteor rock before they stepped foot on the property.

He was looking at the transparent quartz cubes now, carefully nestled in the lead-lined box.

Lex had already sent samples to his labs to analyze them, and the tests so far had revealed no trace of radiation. The cubes of meteor rock had been inexplicably purified.

It was clear to Lex that Dr. Vala Nukom had not come to grovel because Lex had a stockpile of green meteor rock. These cubes proved beyond a doubt that the technology existed to nullify his greatest weapon against Kryptonians.

No, this only proved she really did have some other agenda in mind, and it likely had to do with revealing _their_ presence to Superman. _That_ was the strongest evidence that more Kryptonians had survived their planet's destruction. However flimsy, he believed they really did exist and that their plans for Superman were not out of loyalty to the House of El.

Rubbing his scalp, he took a deep breath closing the box of meteor rock and placed the box into a drawer.

As for his errant quest for family, the lawyers had filed their paperwork as soon as Lara Kent had resumed school a week ago. Then, she promptly disappeared.

That was exactly three days ago. The media had trained their cameras on US Senator Jonathan Kent, who tersely warned that if this was an abduction that the perpetrators would be found and dealt with.

If she had disappeared because of Clark, Lex doubted that Senator Kent would have been so tense on-air.

Ever since he heard the news, the president suspected someone had learned about the paternity case, despite the gag order, and had picked Lara up with the intention of holding her ransom. So far, there had been no demands, which played out into several different scenarios in Lex's head, most of which did not have acceptable outcomes.

If she was harmed in any form, Lex would have his revenge in due course.

Hearing the door open and close rapidly with a telltale swish, President Luthor looked up expectantly. Instead of Superman or Conner, a very familiar girl sat in the chair across from his desk with her legs primly crossed and her hands folded properly in her lap.

So, she _had_ inherited more than Clark's green eyes.

"May I do something for you, Miss Kent?"

"No, Mr. President. Just do what you do."

Immediately suspicious, Lex blinked slowly. She didn't appear to be strapped with explosives, but one could never tell these days. "Your grandparents are probably worried sick about you."

"It's okay. They'll know soon."

Picking up his phone receiver, Lex didn't hear his secretary on the other end. He tapped the disconnect button a few times before he looked up. Lara was holding the other end of the ethernet cable in front of him, grinning.

He frowned. "What exactly are you up to?" Obviously, if he tried texting anyone with his tablet, he feared the reliable machine would be destroyed.

Dropping the cord, she showed her teeth, swaying her body so her dress spun out.

That was _not_ a smile. Dread tightened Lex's gut, reminded of Conner's early onset of psychosis before Clark's genes took over. Not needing an explanation from Lara, he _knew_ Clark's moronic plan had begun to unfold and he'd become ensnared in his daughter's plot for revenge.

"My dad didn't come to my tenth birthday. I'm going to make him see me."

Unlike others who may have faced the threat of a little girl with laughter, Lex took it seriously. The only edge he had in this situation was that he had years more experience in villainy toils, which scientifically only accounted for an hour's gain if they'd been pitted against each other. Unfortunately, he had no idea what she had in mind, but imagined that the product of her scheming was somewhere between unpleasant and painful, but non-lethal.

Hopefully, Superman wouldn't fall for it. Unfortunately, Lex knew better than to press his luck. The universe had from the start conspired to make him a cynic.

"I see." Leaning forward on his elbows, Lex calmly threaded his fingers together. "I don't know why you're giving him such a hard time, since I've never gone to your birthday."

Lara hopped back onto the chair, looking rebellious. "That's different. _You_ didn't know about me when I fixed you and that's Dad's fault 'cause he doesn't tell you anything. I overheard my grandparents talk about a lawsuit. How'd you find out?" She demanded in an accusatory tone.

"Did you come here to ask me that or is there something else you want to tell me?" Lex raised an eyebrow.

She smiled again, her eyes no longer angry, and then looked behind him. "You'll see."

That was the briefest warning before a very loud whoosh threatened to pop Lex's ears. The president found himself bodily lifted from the front of his very expensive three piece suit and slammed against the top of his desk. It was a good thing he was a tidy person, or that might have hurt more than it already did.

"Luthor!" Superman was pissed, leaning into the hold.

Breath knocked out of him, it took until Superman let up for a moment for Lex to recover. "Why, hello Superman." Lex groaned out, "You couldn't wait another five minutes to swoop in?"

"With this stupid stunt of yours, everyone will know how foul their elected president is. You'll rot in jail, _again_!"

"Yes, it was _very_ stupid. So stupid, in fact, that a _ten-year-old_ devised it."

Superman stopped pinning Lex to the desk one-handed. Then he stepped back and crossed his arms to stare at him for some explanation.

Still on the desk, Lex took in a lungful of air. "I'm just as surprised as you are that my newly discovered daughter went out of her way to do this."

"Lara Kent…?" He turned slowly and noticed Lara grinning impishly behind him.

She stood up on the chair, crossing her arms to mimic Superman's pose. "Yeah, I did it. _I _ran away and sent the ransom letter, too!"

"Why?" The cold, disapproving tone could have snapped steel in half.

Lex had to admit it was something to see the young girl stand up to the look that came with that voice.

"Because I wanted to!" She yelled at him.

Feeling a paternal obligation to intercept Superman's incoming wrath, Lex painfully rolled off the desk and stood to adjust his suit. "Before you barged in, Superman, Miss Kent was in the process of explaining that to me," Lex said, quickly putting his desk to rights before someone peeked in to hear what all the commotion was about. He re-plugged his phone and was happy to see he hadn't missed any messages.

"It was my _tenth_ birthday. And you missed it!" She declared crossly.

"Lara—" Superman began.

"You didn't come to my birthday, and there wasn't anything stopping you. I checked! You told me I couldn't live with you, and then you didn't come to my birthday when even Granny and Grandpa made it, and they're super busy!"

"Lara, I told you—" Clark's softer, pleading tone came next, which had Lex jerking his head to look at him.

Lara suddenly burst into tears. "NOOOOOOO!" Their daughter screeched and jumped off the chair to cling to Clark. "DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Security burst in, guns unholstered, only to see Superman raise his hands while a girl clung to him whining rowdily.

Many presidential staffers peered at the scene behind the perplexed Secret Service when Lara suddenly let go to drop to the ground and threw the mother of all tantrums. As she screamed and kicked, Superman encouraged it by hovering over her and shushing her frantically, looking completely out of his element.

Moving in, President Luthor raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture towards his guards. "Stand down. Superman is dealing with a girl who ran away home. Her name is Lara Kent. Please notify Senator Kent and other relevant authorities," Lex stated as Brad waved the crowd out. Once his head of security had pulled the door shut as he left, Lex turned to Superman. "Get out of here, Superman. I'll make sure she gets home."

Clark's uncertainty peeked through the façade of superhero, and then he jerked a quick nod.

"Nooooo!" Lara shouted and practically flew off the floor aiming for a bright blue thigh.

Superman was apparently faster than his daughter, who stumbled when she met only air resistance. Her hands clutched at emptiness. "NOOO! COME BACK!" She sobbed out.

Lex's head was pounding from the shrill screaming. He retook his leather seat and slid the tablet over so he could see what he missed. He quickly read the apologetic text message Senator Kent sent in response to a message from one of his staffers and then he glanced at the time. Senator Kent would be here shortly.

"COME BACK! SUPERMAAAAAN!" When Superman didn't, Lara plopped on the dark blue carpet despondently, crying.

"That's it? You're going to sit on the floor and _cry _when your plan didn't pan out?" Lex snapped at her, irritated.

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" She balled up her fists, tears streaming down her face and then frantically wiped her face with an arm. "He was supposed to take me home!"

"I gathered as much from you earlier."

Suddenly, she was livid. "I hate BOTH of you!" She yelled at the president. "You're all STUPID!" She grabbed the chair she'd claimed as her own and threw it a single, measly bounce away. Strength she lacked, which was just as well since Lex wasn't sure how he would have adequately explained why a chair had pierced through the wall of the Oval Office.

She breathed heavily in once.

"Are you done?"

"No!" She glared as only a spoiled child could, heated without any kind of real bite.

Lex snorted quietly at her mood swing, remembering Conner's volatile tantrums. "If you expected him to react in any other way, then you don't know him as well as you thought."

In the blink of an eye, she grabbed a paperweight off his desk and threw it at the wall. It left a white scar where the wallpaper had torn.

Lex looked at it calmly and then at her expectant face. He shook his head so Brad wouldn't interfere.

Oblivious to Brad, Lara kicked the desk, which shook slightly. "He was _supposed_ to rescue me and take me back home. You. Ruined. _Everything_."

"I can't say I feel sorry for you, considering you tried to land me in jail on false charges." Brad's head disappeared from the doorway, and the door slid shut again.

She sulked. "That wouldn't happen."

"You're not sorry at all, are you?" Lex asked with a cutting tone.

"He said that I can't live with him anymore because it's not safe."

"What you did in response was irresponsible and risky. You'll be lucky that I don't press charges."

She huffed in disbelief. "You wouldn't!"

"I will if you don't start to show some respect. This is not how a model citizen behaves."

Sulking again, she stared at her feet. "I'm sorry," she mumbled insincerely, "for siccing Daddy on you."

Lex took a deep breath so he didn't strangle his newly discovered daughter. He had to remind himself that this fiasco had happened as a direct result of Clark's callous actions. Lara Kent felt hurt and betrayed, just as Lex had predicted, and had done this to get the attention she craved. If Lex didn't stop the emotional hemorrhaging, Lara might end up as twisted as he was.

He decided to divert Lara's attention before she decided to do something truly dangerous and end up a juvenile delinquent. "So you heard about the lawsuit. What do you think?"

She squinted her eyes at him, scowling. "You hate kids," she stated defiantly. "I thought it was to get back at Daddy for hiding me."

He couldn't argue with her on his general feeling about kids, but her deduction as to the motive behind the lawsuit was wrong. "It's the thoughtless actions of a child, like the one you just pulled, that I have a problem with."

"I said I was sorry!"

"It's hard to take an apology seriously when you don't look sorry."

Lara glowered, fumbling with the ring on her thumb. "I knew he wouldn't really hurt you, and if he tried you would have stopped him."

At her naivety, Lex snorted derisively. "Don't assume. It just makes an ass out of you and me."

Shocked by the profanity, she giggled once and then looked considerably cowed. She sat down heavily kicking her feet. "He would have hurt you?"

"Could have," Lex lied, not bothering to mention the cracked rib he suspected he sustained. "When he gets overcome with emotion, it's hard for him to hold back on his aggression."

"I'm sorry," her voice whispered out, tremulously.

Lex looked up to see her head bowed, fumbling with the silver ring on her thumb.

"It's just…" She sniffled. "I know it's no excuse, but Daddy just decided this on his own, and I was so _mad_. I couldn't think of anything else. And then I got even madder when Granny and Grandpa made excuses for him because I _know_ he missed my birthday on purpose. Even a six-year old could figure it out." She scrubbed at her face as tears streamed down her face, but she never took her eyes off the ring.

This was how Clark Kent normally operated when someone grew too close to his secrets, but to do it with his own flesh and blood… to his own daughter who he'd raised himself was beyond harsh. It was downright cruel. What the hell had compelled Clark to think this was a good idea? "And you wanted revenge?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Miss Kent, this leads neatly into my next point. Contrary to your belief, I did not go to the courts to get revenge. I want to be your father. I should have asked if you were interested before I started the process. So, are you?"

Hope blossomed in her wide, green eyes.

It made Lex's heart constrict in ways that would have worried him if he hadn't already dealt with it around Conner.

Then her eyes grew hooded and she frowned. "What's the catch?"

"You can't throw a tantrum every time something doesn't go your way. Self-discipline is the only way to succeed in life."

Scowling, she crossed her arms.

"Miss Kent," Lex warned.

"Did you force Daddy to stop visiting me?"

Feeling put upon, Lex pressed fingers to massage his temple. "I had no part in his decision," he ground out.

Her face scrunched up again, but she didn't cry. "Then, why? Why would he…?"

Lex sighed and, for the benefit of everyone involved, chose not to divert her vengeful anger onto the Batman. "You'll have to ask him yourself."

She frowned and fiddled with the ring.

When several moments passed and an awkward silence descended, Lex cut through it, "Is there something else that's bothering you?"

"You really want someone like me as your daughter?" She asked quietly, sounding as if she expected that the answer would be no.

Dropping his hands, the president looked at the contrite, guilt-ridden expression on his daughter's face. "Of course. Why wouldn't I want to raise my daughter?" He asked rhetorically, but saw that she considered the question seriously. "Come here."

Lara walked tentatively around his desk.

From his chair, Lex leaned forward offering his hands palm up.

She blinked at them and then at him before cautiously placing her small hands into his.

He clasped them gently. "You're the only family I have left, Lara."

Sensing something in his voice, she looked up at him doubtfully. "No other kids out of wedlock?"

Surprised that she'd read him, Lex pulled a hand away from hers and lightly cuffed her ear. "Brat. You're quick to judge."

Not to be dissuaded, Lara covered her ears and stepped back. "Am I really your _only_ child?"

"No," Lex said as she crowed at being correct. "You have a brother. His name is Conner," Lex said wryly.

"Daddy told me you lie to get your way and make promises you don't keep."

"Is that so…?" Lex looked at the deep wariness in his daughter's eyes, and then amended his assumption that this was the first time Clark had tried to manipulate her. "I do have a habit of telling people what they want to hear, but I always keep my promises."

"Then promise… promise that you'll let me go see Granny and Grandpa. And that I get to see my brother. And that if Daddy wants to see me, you'll let him." Lara fiddled with the ring on her thumb.

Lex extended his hand. "Shake on it?"

She solemnly shook hands with him. "It's a promise."

Lex nodded, just as someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Lex called out.

A graying Senator Kent appeared in the doorway. ""Excuse me, Mr. President." His harsh gaze turned to his granddaughter, who quickly stole back her hand. "Lara Abigail Kent!" He didn't _quite_ roar.

She flinched and then looked petulantly at Lex, seeking an ally.

"You had better go without a fight, Lara Abigail Kent," Lex stated nonchalantly.

Lara huffed angrily and whirled away from him. Her grandfather stared at the president for a long moment.

"Good day, Senator Kent." There was no need to wheedle an already distraught grandfather about the upcoming court date.

It was a sign that Jonathan Kent was so irate that he only nodded his head, instead of offering a gruff parting of respect for the office of presidency.

**_TBC._**


	10. Luthor Wins Custody

**Author's Notes:** _Whee, had to rewrite this one a couple times too. I didn't want to go into TOO much detail because I find trials to be boring and dull, especially standard ones like this. So I decided to spare you all. :) Thank you to my reviewers! I get inspired when I get feedback, and always take time to respond even if it takes me time to get back to you. I also am glad people like this story enough to favorite it when it's only half done. XD What a surprise!_

* * *

The court date passed, the trial proceeded, and after that judgment commenced.

Clark Kent never showed for any part of it.

According to the Kents' testimony, Clark had dropped Lara off a month ago without any warning about the letter he'd sent to President Luthor and then shortly stopped responding to his parents' calls and emails.

Later, Clark's supervisor, Perry White, had testified that Clark resigned from his job at the Daily Planet a few weeks before the trial began.

As an aside, Lex's head attorney had told him that those two testimonies revealed that Mr. Kent's intent was to give up all possible custodial rights to Lara despite being so active in her early development. Of course, his attorneys were thrilled that they'd be able to get their high-profile client sole custody.

Lex didn't bother to tell them how infuriated he was by the prospect of being a single father. In fact, President Luthor had to carefully maintain his composure throughout.

To do this, he reminded himself that he was just cleaning up the thoughtless mess Clark had left behind. Wishing things were different wouldn't console Lara.

Checking his watch as Lex and the defendants waited patiently for the judge to come out of her chamber to announce her judgment, Lex took another sip of coffee.

In the quiet of the court room, Lara's voice questioned her grandparents about a calculus problem she was stuck on, judging by the description of the problem. "I keep getting the wrong solution and this problem has four more parts," she groused.

Jonathan merely cleared his throat in a manner suggesting sympathy. It was Martha who said, "Why don't you skip that one for now, sweetheart. You can ask your tutor to look over it later."

The President glanced over his cup as Lara's profile frowned at the thick graphing calculator and then placed her head on top of the open binder. "Dad could have helped me," she muttered under her breath miserably.

Lex blinked.

The Kents both looked towards him, and he smiled genially setting his cup down. He went back to reading a thick bill that Congress had recently passed, scouring it for anything suspiciously anti-Mutant. Those amendments were more insidious than pork for a congressperson's district.

The side door opened, and the baliff entered. "Judge Lester is taking the stand."

Setting aside his reading, Lex courteously stood as did everyone else.

"Thank you. Please be seated," the judge said formally, adjusting her robes as she sat. "I have one final question for Miss Lara Kent that has plagued me while I deliberated. I find that it needs to be answered before I can make a proper judgment. Miss Kent, if you would take the stand…?"

"Yes, your Honor." Lara slowly made her way to the stand and placed her hand on the Bible, repeating what the Baliff said to swear. Once she had taken her seat, the judge continued.

"Now, I understand you're a very bright young girl. Do you understand that the oath you took means you cannot lie in your testimony, correct?"

"Yes, your Honor. That would be perjury."

The dour-faced woman's lips quirked in a semblance of a smile. "Yes, it would. Take your time to think before you answer. There's no hurry."

Lara nodded having stark curiosity on her face.

"How did you find out that your father is President Alexander 'Lex' Luthor?"

"Oh," she looked guiltily towards her grandparents, who stiffened in their seats. Lex thought it was likely that they were worried that Lara was going to in some way expose her powers.

"Don't worry about them dear."

"Clark Kent told me."

The judge showed no expression at this. "When did he tell you?"

"When I was seven and a half."

"What did he say to you?"

An amused look came on Lara's face as she remembered, and she looked straight at Lex. "He told me that I shouldn't say bad things about the president. Since Grandpa said those things all the time, I thought it was weird. So I said so and asked him why it was okay for Grandpa to say those things but not me."

Jonathan Kent's profile barely covered the wince.

Leaning a little against the railing in front of her, Lara took a breath. "And then he told me that you should never badmouth your father even if you disagree because it's wrong. And that's how I found out."

"Thank you, dear. You may leave the stand."

Lara stood, navigating her way out of the wtiness stand, hopped down the steps, and walked back to her seat.

The judge rearranged her robes. "Well, that settles it. Mr. Alexander Joseph Luthor, I hereby grant you sole custody of Miss Lara Kent. At this time, let the Court hear that I also grant Mr. Luthor's appeal that the Senators Jonathan and Martha Kent will be legally declared guardians in the event of Mr. Luthor's death or disappearance. Court is adjourned." She slapped the gavel down and stood, vacating the premises.

Lara squealed happily, running the distance from the benches behind the defendant's desk, and jumped against Lex's torso, totally unaware of Jonathan Kent's stare of betrayal. Martha Kent's eyes were too bright as she held tears back.

Politely, Lex hugged his daughter, while one of his staff members picked up his binder and half-full coffee cup.

The Kents had probably believed Lex had _somehow_ manufactured the DNA analysis and the letter, but their granddaughter's confession threw it all back into their face. Either they would accept that Clark had spawned a child with the reviled Lex Luthor or else continue believing Lex somehow coached their granddaughter to commit perjury. It was unlikely they'd ever stomach the truth.

In the meantime, the media would have a field day about the bachelor President's legitimized daughter. It was fortunate that they hadn't been able to send cameras into the courtroom to watch the proceedings. FERPA was such a grand law to keep it a closed court for the privacy of children.

When Lara pulled back, Lex crouched to her eye level. "Have you made a decision?"

"I can always change it later right?"

With a small grin, Lex nodded.

She leaned in. "I'll keep it for Daddy's sake," she whispered conspiratorially. Maybe not all was lost between Clark and Lara if she wanted to keep the last name he'd given her.

"You'll be teased."

With a huff, she rolled her green eyes. "So?"

He ruffled her hair affectionately, and she fussed to straighten it with an exasperated look.

"Mr. President."

Looking up, Lex stood and met Jonathan Kent's calm gaze. "Yes?"

"Before Lara goes… we'd like to say goodbye."

"Certainly, Senator Kent. That is, if she wants." He looked down at his daughter expectantly.

"It's okay, Granny, Grandpa. Mr. President will make sure I stay safe."

"Oh," Martha Kent breathed out as the tears ran down her cheeks, hugging Lara tightly. "We'll miss you."

"What are you talking about? He said that he would let you have me once a month. Three weeks isn't long, Granny. Granny? Don't cry!"

The president pulled away, not interested in family drama, since he'd lived through enough out of circumstance to star in his own soap opera.

"Sir," a uniformed soldier saluted. "There's a helicopter waiting for you." Lex had arranged it to take him to a very important meeting with the backers of the Citizens Equality bill, which added further anti-discrimination measures to protect the rights of citizens, including those with unusual gifts.

"At ease." Lex raised his voice, "Ashton," a blond man, who'd been assigned as Lara's personal bodyguard, turned Lex's way, "be sure Lara gets to the White House safely. There's some urgent matters I have to attend." Lex glanced at the back of Lara's head as it bobbed at Jonathan's words.

Martha Kent was still looking poleaxed, while Lara on tiptoes patted her arm.

"Tell her that I'll eat dinner with her." Unfortunately, family time with Lara would have to wait.

"Yes, sir."

"Lead the way," Lex glanced at the name plate of the soldier beside him, "Sergeant Brunstedder."

His Secret Service fell in behind him, while far ahead in the hall similarly dressed men cleared his path. The death threats were steadily growing as President Luthor upheld citizen rights and refused to pass anti-Mutant bills. In a few more weeks, he would sign the Citizens Equality bill into law once it scraped by with just the bare minimum of votes in the House. He'd contacted several company CEOs to offer lucrative positions to the retiring Senators needing more incentive to prevent a filibuster in the Senate. Then would come the reconciliation committee and the law would have to be voted on again in both houses before Lex could sign it into law.

Lex smirked to himself at the increased security at the Courthouse. _If extremists didn't want to kill you, you weren't doing your job._

_****__TBC._


	11. An Artistic Luthor

**Author's Notes:** _Well, I wanted a scene showing how Lex and his daughter interacting before Conner arrives. Conner's pretty busy himself (secret heroing and all), which is why he doesn't show up at the Luthor mansion willy-nilly. Hope you guys enjoy the update. Thank you for reading!  
_

* * *

Two days later and well into the evening, Lex arrived at his Smallville mansion with Lara in tow. He introduced her to Kate, who would later be in charge of Lara's day-to-day activities.

Lara left the room to explore the mansion, while Lex settled into his study chair and began to annotate yet another bill, expecting to be interrupted by a certain superhero.

His phone rang some time after dusk. He snapped it up. "Luthor."

"Ah, Mr. Luthor," a vaguely accented voice said, "This is Dr. Roelf. I cross-examined the results with other samples you gave to me some time ago. And it matches Samples 214 and 12932."

After looking at the area code and recognizing that it was an out-of-country number, Lex squeezed the bridge of his nose.

Sample 214 was a vial of Superman's blood. Sample 12932 wasn't Clark's DNA. Lex couldn't remember whose it was. "I warned you what would happen if you went behind my back," he said coldly.

"I am not the one who has flagrantly broken several laws from the creation of your daughter."

Lex snorted in derisive surprise. The doctor had deduced incorrectly. Lara was not the clone.

"I've accepted a research fellowship where you can't touch me. In the event of my death, your daughter's DNA analysis will be automatically uploaded to various reputable media outlets. So long as you don't call in any more favors, I will no longer trouble you with such vexing matters."

Lex should have killed him, but that was a moot point now. "That's it?"

Dr. Roelf laughed quietly. "I am not an idiot, Mr. Luthor. I know what you could do should I tax your generosity. In twenty years, I'll destroy the evidence. I swear on my life that no one else shall know of our other little secret either."

The first ex-felon President blinked. "What are you insinuating?"

"Sample 12932 is something I took the liberty of collecting myself. Clearly you have been exposed to a large amount of K-133 and survived."

K-133 was Cadmus Labs codespeak for radioactive Kryptonite. Lex bared his teeth at the phone, but held back his vitriol when Lara shuffled in tiredly, wearing a faded blue shirt with an all-too-familiar 'S' on the front. The XXL shirt fit crookedly on her small frame and was matched well with an equally worn set of soft gray shorts.

Lex glanced at the time, and almost didn't believe twelve hours had passed uninterrupted by Superman. "We'll talk about this later. Good night, Dr. Roelf."

"No, we won't. Goodbye, President Luthor."

Peeved at the doctor, Lex hung up the phone. To protect his daughter he would do anything. Dr. Roelf's weaknesses would have to be picked apart before he could break the man's power over him, but right now his daughter needed attention. "What's the matter, Lara?"

"Aren't you sleepy?" Lara asked with a yawn as she leaned entirely on one foot, the ratty hemlines catching Lex's eyes. The pajama shirt was old and likely sentimental. Even though the shirt looked better suited as in a bucket of rags, Lex understood the emotional comfort it provided her and withheld his opinion.

"No," he answered. "But you look as if you need some."

"I will..." She took a deep breath, fiddling with the hole in the left baggy sleeve. "Miss Kate told me my schedule. Is Dad coming tomorrow?"

Lex frowned, tracing his bottom lip with his thumb. "The visitor tomorrow morning is your brother."

His daughter's expression was somewhere between lost and disappointed

Lowering his thumb, Lex dragged his fingers lightly over the edge of the desk before dropping his hand to his side. "You were very specific in requesting to meet him. Have you changed your mind?"

Lara shook her head vehemently, dark red hair flying around her head. "I want to! I just…" She looked at the floor and sighed.

There were a hundred choices that could have filled that pregnant pause, but Lara had settled on the most ambivalent cue.

Lex waited.

She looked up gingerly. "Never mind," she turned to go, revealing the velcroed faded red cape on the back. A small mole peeked out through a hole above her right shoulder blade.

"Lara."

She paused, gazing back expectantly.

"I've sent various correspondences to Clark explicitly telling him that you're available, but haven't received a response yet."

Quickly, Lara turned away and then shrugged. "Dad's real job always took precedence."

Pushing the chair away, Lex stood up. "Do you want to chat?"

She snorted, half-turning away from the door. "No. You're too busy."

Leaning against the front of his desk, Lex quirked an eyebrow and then pointedly looked at his watch. It was three in the morning. He'd lost track of time. "I always have time for you." He sat on a couch, dangling his hands between his knees as he thought of a conversation starter. "Did you like your rooms?"

Hopping onto the couch across from Lex next to the ember-filled fireplace, Lara brought her legs onto the couch cushion and stretched them out. She was quiet for a moment as she attacked a stray blue thread from her t-shirt collar. Then she shrugged. "Yeah. I had fun decorating them with Miss Kate."

"What did you decide on?"

His daughter gave him a flat look. "Do you seriously care about that?"

"Your former art teachers have relayed that you've always had an uncanny attention to detail and color and that you particularly enjoyed learning about architecture. Based off your previous work, I thought that you might enjoy interior design." He flicked a hand towards several framed artworks with museum-quality glass covering them.

She followed his gesture and stood up with something similar to a mortified expression before whooshing over to look at the three outside perspectives, numerous floor plans, and sheets of interior perspectives of a miniature building.

The drawn walls down to the carefully stenciled doorknobs had been meticulously dimensioned. Along the edges of the one of the floor plans were careful details of cornices and molding as well as tiny paint swatches directing which rooms would have which colors.

His daughter's back was to Lex as she inspected the work. She hesitantly looked over her shoulder. "I drafted this to build a dollhouse. I donated them to a charity auction for a Girl Scout badge in second grade," She murmured in bewilderment, her hand covering her mouth as she looked at him again. "Where did you get them?"

"I had to spend a pretty penny to ply it from the art collector," Lex commented wryly.

Lara's jaw dropped, likely because he'd _paid_ to get it. "Art collector?"

"An eccentric collector interested in odd presidential memorabilia snapped it up not long after you were announced as my daughter."

"Oh. Weird."

Lex leaned into the couch, hooking his ankle over the top of his knee to cross his legs. "So, your room?"

The last of her fatigue seemed to vanish when she sat back down. "I started with the theme. I wanted something more modern, but not industrial... that's too cold to live in and wouldn't really fit with the decor that you already have going here." She blinked at him when he didn't interrupt and then jumped into a very thorough description of what she had done to her suite of rooms with Kate's assistance. As he listened to her, Lex heard who his daughter really was beneath the obedient and cynical veneer.

He already knew she had determination and guts, since she had baited Superman, her own birth father, to attack Lex.

But passion was _the_ crucial element in the business world, and its lack could easily break a multinational corporation's direction. Not that Lex was the current CEO of his company. The office of presidency refused any person with that kind of conflict of interest. But once he finished his second term, he would retake his rightful position in LuthorCorp. The Board of Directors wouldn't have it any other way, considering their dismal quarterly numbers and Wayne Enterprises' constant attempts to buy the company outright...

The more he listened to her rant about the stark and overly utilitarian style of post-modernistic interior design, the more he was sure that Lara had all the potential of an entrepreneur. Lex could hardly keep the semblance of a smile off his lips as he set his glass down. He was by no means dynastic like his father, but if Lara expressed interest in business Lex would have no qualms mentoring her. In stark contrast, Conner's interests were primarily in research, medicine, and public service. His son had scorned Lex's efforts to teach him the value of business and Lex hadn't forced him to sit through it.

Stopping mid-rant, his daughter's jaw yawned open. She rubbed her face in a way that was reminiscent of Clark. "Sorry."

Dropping his foot to the ground so he could sit straight, Lex gestured to the double doors. "Go get some sleep. You have a full day tomorrow. But... I have a small suggestion."

Lara frowned lightly. "What?"

"Don't wear anything like _that _around your brother."

Her frown overtook her entire face. "What's wrong with it? Is he a snob?"

Lex chuckled. "No. He doesn't like Superman."

His daughter stood up, stretching. "Huh. Okay. I'll remember that." She stepped towards him and threw her arms around him without warning.

Lex became rigid before he managed to hinge an arm and delicately pat the back of her shoulder.

"Good night, Papa. I love you."

Her whisper broke the remaining stronghold inside of his heart, which was armored against feeling anything for anyone. Only four people had managed to worm their way in before Lara, and two of them had been dead for years.

"Good night, Lara," he responded softly.

Pulling away with another yawn, she turned away without understanding the significance of the moment and shambled out.

**TBC.**


	12. The Siblings Meet

**Author's Notes:** _Hee! Siblings will be siblings. We'll get back to more exciting Lex/Clark interactions in the next chapter. Oh, and Ultraman will show up in this fic. Which is why I had that pairing in the summary. Just fyi in case you didn't know why I did that. _

* * *

The next morning, Lara Kent arrived promptly at eight dressed in a recently tailored uniform from the co-ed private school Lex had enrolled her in, though she wouldn't attend for another few days. She pulled at the front lapels of the cream-colored vest hanging over her purple skirt. "Is he here yet?"

Standing next to a book case Lex gestured a hand towards a door hidden in the paneling. "Conner Kentley, come meet your sister."

The dark-haired teen appeared suddenly in a breeze, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his socked feet. "Hello," Conner said radiantly with a dimpled grin and bright blue eyes. He was in a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Hi," Lara responded uncertainly, and then glanced at Lex with a frown. "Other than the eyes and face, he looks just like Dad."

"It's nice to meet you too, Lara," Conner stated sheepishly, scratching his head and glancing at their father.

Lex was not about to mediate this very important conversation in person, so he smirked already heading to the door. "I'm sure you two are excited to meet each other. I'll be in my office should you need me." Lex shut the door to his study behind him, pressing a finger to his ear. According to the planted bug in his study, they said nothing for a few long moments. Lex wondered if they were staring each other down.

"I thought you were my half-brother. Why do you look so much like my Dad?" Lara's voice pierced through the tech in Lex's ear.

Four doors down, he stepped into his office and slipped behind the desk taking a seat. He immediately turned on the surveillance television and saw her with her fists on her small hips, elbows out.

"I'm a Cognitional Neuroplastic Replicant, CNR for short. It's like being a clone, except I'm half of Papa and Clark Kent. I was grown in a vat and everything." Conner looked nervous, but Lex could hardly blame him.

"Oh." Lara shrugged. "Well, that makes sense since Mr. Luthor can't have babies."

With a hand, Lex muffled the laugh as Conner's eyes widened slightly at her strange thought process, and then his son plopped onto a couch and swung his feet onto the coffee table. "You can call our father Papa. It won't hurt my feelings. Honest."

"So... Papa," she said shyly, "really _is _a genius because I didn't think growing people in vats was possible yet…" She blinked thoughtfully. "I guess there'd be uproar over it since it's illegal. And then people would treat you like a lesser person. That'd suck."

Conner sat up, dropping his feet to the ground. "Yeah…" Conner's face was stony, obviously uncomfortable with the turn in topic. His son had had a bit of an identity crisis a few years back over his creation.

An impish smile bloomed on his sister's face. "Hey… so does this mean you have powers too?"

Unable to sit any longer, Conner jumped to his feet and smiled widely. "Of course." He frowned as if something had just occurred to him. "Are you a new kind of replicant then? Like were you naturally born from a surrogate or something?"

Lara tilted her head with a puzzled expression and then shook her head. "Nope. Dad gave birth to me in his secret fortress."

"Say what?" Conner's expression was priceless. It wasn't often that he was taken off guard.

"My Dad..." She said slowly, "gave birth to me."

"Guys don't have kids," Conner scoffed dismissively. Lex would have agreed with his son, if he hadn't seen Lara's DNA analysis himself.

"Guys do when they're the last Kryptonian around," Lara said bluntly.

"Kryptonian? You mean, Superman?" Conner's face went pale, and he steadied himself against a built-in bookcase, which creaked dangerously. If he didn't rein in his super-strength, he'd tear the exquisite carpentry down.

Lex stood with a hand cautiously hovering over a lead-box, tinned metallic silver. Depending on the outcome of this conversation, he might have to interfere for their safety. His eyes were affixed to the security feed.

"Yep! But I'm only half, and so are you." Lara frowned, looking Conner up and down. "What's the big deal? You look like the world's gonna end."

"The big deal is that the Kryptonians want to take over the world!" Conner yelled.

"_What?!_" Lara shrieked, causing Lex to wince at the feedback in his ear. She brought her hands up in dismay. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard! I don't want to do that, and I _know_ Dad doesn't!"

"So Clark Kent really is Superman?" When Lara's head jerked into a nod, Conner shook his head and threw his hands up, unconsciously mimicking his sister. "_Really_? I don't believe this!"

Lex became a little less tense. If Conner's voice had turned passionlessly cold, then he would have been more concerned for Lara's safety, considering Conner's history of mental instability.

"Okay. So. I know what we need to do," Lara announced authoritatively, "We need to calm down and think rationally about this." She plopped onto the couch. She stared at the seams of the uncomfortable leather couch, nibbling on her lower lip. "We need to think about this," she repeated out loud.

End to end of the room, Conner paced with extreme agitation. He swung a hand out, pulled at his hair, and then sighed loudly. "Why didn't Papa tell me I'm part-Kryptonian?"

"He didn't know until a little while ago," Lara answered promptly, the glazed look in her eyes fleeing swiftly. Her head swiveled around to watch her brother. "I bet he was super-angry like you when he found out."

Lex couldn't help the slight quirk in his lips at her accurate assessment.

Conner turned a hostile glare on her. "How do _you_ know Papa didn't know? You barely know him!"

With a crooked smile, Lara wiggled her fingers. "When I heal someone, I pick up their strongest memories. He didn't know Dad was Superman. They were still separate people to him when I healed him."

Lex's small smile withered on his lips.

Eyebrows furrowed, Conner slowly approached her. "When did you heal Papa?"

"At the awards ceremony. Somebody shot him, and if I hadn't…" Lara trailed off solemnly. She looked up guiltily. "Grandpa made me swear I would never do it again, never heal again, but I promised myself that I would meet my other dad when I grew up…" She looked at her hands darkly. "There was blood in his lungs. I knew he was dead if I didn't…"

The description sent Lex back to the nasty experience, but he quickly chased the memory back, choosing to stay in the present.

"I had _no_ idea." Conner looked sick, understanding the repercussions of internal hemorrhaging. "I saw the bandage on his arm, but he made a joke about it."

"Adults are weird. They don't think we can handle anything."

"Tell me about it," Conner commiserated. He hesitantly sat next to her. "So, you aren't supposed to heal anyone because you see their memories?"

Lara shook her head. "I don't tell people about that. It stresses my body and puts me into a coma."

Was it truly the healing itself that had sent her into a coma or the stolen memories? Did the stolen memories have any effect on her psychological development? Lex's mind raced at the impact on her growth.

"Oh," Conner said, looking at her worriedly. "Did you see anything else?"

"Don't look at me like that. Seriously, Dad looks at me like that. Mr. Luthor... Papa would have died if I hadn't okay? Give me a break," Lara shifted uncomfortably for several moments and then slapped her hands against her legs. "So, I've thought about what you said about Kryptonians, but I think you have it wrong. I _know_ Dad's not out to take over the world, and if he won't then Superman won't either."

Sensing the danger had clearly passed, Lex retook his comfortable chair with his eyes on the screen as he set the box down. He had promised himself he wouldn't intrude more than he needed to, but the conversation was too interesting.

"Well, Papa says Kryptonians visited us all the time in the past and left stories to get humanity used to the idea of being conquered by a God and submitting to Him. Papa's financed a lot of archaeological digs and found Kryptonian relics and writings in a lot of different ancient civilizations in out of the way places. We can go see what he's found if you don't believe me." Conner stuck his thumb out over his shoulder in the direction of the locked room which held alien secrets.

"Whoa," Lara was struck speechless by the thought. "I don't need to see it. I believe you." She brushed her fingers under her chin thoughtfully. "So, you and Papa think that Dad's, like, supposed to be the alien scout or something to direct the 'mother ship' here?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Lara dropped her hand, victory shining in her eyes. "Then what about the Disciples of Zod? He beat those guys and sent them to another dimension!"

Conner rolled his eyes. "_Of course_ he did that. Superman wouldn't want someone else to come in after he spent all this time prepping the population for _his _takeover. He'd take support staff, but not a rival. That's common sense."

Lara shook her head. "I know Dad, and there's no way he would ever, _ever_ want to take over the world."

"Maybe _you're_ supposed to be the one to take over the world," Conner said suspiciously.

Lara's lips flattened in thought.

Eyebrows raised at Conner's supposition, Lex thought that was a questionable scheme. If that was Clark's goal, why had he abandoned his daughter? ... unless Clark had seen too much of Lex in her personality and became paranoid that his all-powerful position might not remain his with Lara there to betray him. Of course Lex thought that was ridiculous, but it didn't hurt to explore the thought to its conclusion.

Shaking her head, Lara laughed. "Maybe that would have been possible if I was born differently. But as I am..."

Conner angled his head at her. "What do you mean?"

"You already know about one of my powers, but I'm also fast, have X-ray vision, and can recharge in sunlight. That's it. No super-strength, no invulnerability, no lasers from the eyes, no flying. I'd be a sitting duck for any assassins." Lara narrowed her eyes at Conner. "But _you_ said you were kind of like a clone. Does that mean _you _have all of Dad's powers?"

"I can do almost everything Superman can do, I guess," his son's tone sounded deadened as realization sunk in.

"Even fly?" his daughter asked perkily.

Lex leaned towards the HD flat screen to watch more closely Conner's expression.

"_No_," Conner said forcefully. Judging by his face, Lex knew his son had spoken a half-truth.

"Have you tried?" Lara's voice was doubtful as if she too had caught his deception.

"It's bad enough that I shoot fire from my eyes" -since when? Lex thought alarmed- "Now, I have to worry about freezing breath and supersonic flying?" Conner's face was a mixture of dread and fear. "What if there's some weird Kryptonian genetic code that takes over and makes me conquer the world! Or wear bright-colored spandex?!" He shuddered.

Lex couldn't help the chuckle then. Conner's color scheme had always favored darker colors.

"Umm… I don't think that's going to happen, and even if it _did_ Dad would stop you before anyone got hurt," Lara said in a rush, and then in the same breath asked, "Is it fun to shoot fire from your eyes?" Lara leaned in inquisitively, peering at her brother's light blue eyes.

Dark-haired Conner grimaced. "No. Definitely not."

"Why? Does it hurt?"

Conner frowned. "No, it doesn't. It's embarrassing, and I don't want to talk about it."

So it was embarrassment that had been the cause of Conner's lack of communication over the discovery of a new ability. That was a relief.

"Dad told me to watch out for setting things on fire when I hit puberty, so does shooting eye lasers have to do with sex?" Her tone was ever so innocent.

Lex snorted as Conner's ears turned bright red.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" He yelled in annoyance.

Holding her stomach, Lara giggled raucously dispelling Conner's anger into sheepish embarrassment.

Well, their first meeting appeared to be proceeding at a tolerable level. Which was good, since the last thing he wanted was Conner and Lara at odds with each other.

He turned off the screen and reluctantly took out the earpiece as their conversation continued.

Lex would approach Conner later with an apology for not telling him about his Kryptonian heritage sooner. He just hadn't had the time.

No, he could have made the time. Lex had been afraid of Conner's reaction. Lex had already been rejected harshly by someone he still loved. He'd wanted to avoid the same with his son.

He lightly plucked at the skin of his bare chin. It was a good thing that Lara had been able to convince Conner that Lex hadn't known about Clark.

Lex _had _been aware that an undeniable connection existed between the two. And after Conner was born, there had been little details that pointed to the truth, first and foremost Conner's invulnerability and inhuman strength.

He'd wanted to believe that Clark was a mutant and nothing more. There would still be a part of him that the truth would never completely sink into, not wanting to believe that Clark Kent had been hiding inside Superman all this time.

After all, they'd been vicious in their early battles, using each other's weaknesses to get ahead. In addition, while Superman had been less cruel in his counterattacks and reactions he'd been significantly heavy-handed towards Lex, a mere human with slightly accelerated self-healing. Yet, even when the super-powered alien had been beaten soundly moments before, Superman didn't go the next step and kill Lex when most others would have taken the opportunity. Lex had always figured that Superman had taken the 'higher road' because of his superior-than-thou attitude, but now he suspected it was Clark Kent's unwillingness to murder him.

Since Clark was willing to skip out on the trial, Superman's conspicuous non-intrusion made Lex doubly doubt that his 'vacation' would be interrupted.

Why?

That damnable question tortured Lex as it had when Clark had hidden his fantastic abilities.

Didn't Clark want to see his daughter, to hold her and tell her that he loved her? Was he that afraid of Lex's wrath that he wouldn't dare try to connect with his daughter?

Anger lit into Lex, and he dropped his hands to the desk drumming his fingers against the unmarred surface.

No, Superman didn't want to risk revealing his daughter's true parentage, which would come out the moment Lara saw him and called him 'Dad'.

God damnit! He flung fisted hands out swinging into the air, not having anything he was willing to break to smithereens nearby.

Why had he darted Superman with that memory suppressant? Clark had handled Lex's knowledge of his secret semi-reasonably. The _only_ part of their interaction Lex couldn't handle was yet another rejection courtesy of Clark-fucking-Kent.

Cradling the back of his head and scratching in agitation, Lex knew he had no one to blame but himself, and he was positively livid at that knowledge.

He should have let Clark simmer on the reveal. That _had _been the original plan, but instead Lex's hurt, irrational desire to take it all back had tugged his fingers on the dart gun trigger and in moments erased the precious minutes of neutrality they'd shared.

Gritting his teeth, Lex recognized his need for a drink. Unfortunately, his favorite scotch was in his study where his children were currently connecting.

Besides, now wasn't the time. He needed a plan which would force Superman's hand... force him to come here of his own volition.

Lex grimaced at the scheme that popped into his head that would require hardly any effort on his part with the added bonus of absolutely no bloodshed.

He wouldn't let Clark use him as an excuse anymore.

_**TBC.**_


End file.
